Commentators

Apocalypse then: The US's 'shock and awe' campaign in Iraq wreaked devastation. George Bush said he was inspired by the Old Testament

Oliver Miles: The key question – is Blair a war criminal?

The terms of reference for the new Iraq inquiry allow for the big unknowns to be tackled. And we might just get to the truth

Inside Commentators

DJ Taylor: Different Strokes

Sunday, 22 November 2009

Alternative takes on history; various attitudes to bad sex in literature; a spread of views on just how great 'The Sun' is; writers' modesty; and various musical tastes

Harry Ritchie: Henry didn't handle the ball, he chanced his arm. They all do

Sunday, 22 November 2009

A dive here, a blood capsule there... everyone cheats to some extent in sport. So thank goodness for the moral and ethical high ground that is golf

John Rentoul: Like it or not, there it is. A Tory policy

Sunday, 22 November 2009

Voluntary work for young people is not new – but David Cameron wants to make it universally available

Rupert Cornwell: Only the turkeys don't look forward to Thanksgiving

Sunday, 22 November 2009

Out of America: This week sees the best festival of the American year, when families put commercialism firmly in its place.

Andrew Martin: Am I odd? I only quite like Marmite

Sunday, 22 November 2009

Mr Jim Keary, manager of a 24-hour garage in Kingsthorpe, Northamptonshire has stopped selling Marmite after his entire stock was repeatedly pinched. "What's the point of selling something if every time you stock it, it gets stolen?" he asked. On one occasion, the thief left two jars behind but came back for them the next night. In all, he has cleared out Mr Keary's entire stock of Marmite four times in a month. The thief appears on CCTV images. He is a thin, bald man who presumably now suffers from whatever is the opposite of a vitamin B deficiency.

Sarah Sands: Out of the shadows and into obscurity

Sunday, 22 November 2009

Belle de Jour made a big mistake revealing her identity. Among the ranks of anonymous authors, she above all should know that the thrill is in the chase. Once the mystery is gone, the fun is over

Editor-At-Large: The internet is no place to fight a general election

Sunday, 22 November 2009

Has the level of political debate really come to this? The next prime minister will probably be elected on the basis of the biscuit he nibbles. Winning an election is about cleverly targeting undecided voters, and you can guess what group the spin doctors have in their sights this time. In 1992 the Tories wooed the "pebbledash people" who'd bought their own council houses under Maggie Thatcher. In 1997 Tony Blair's team was obsessed with middle-class voters they tagged Mondeo Man and Worcester Woman. This time around it's mums.

Joan Smith: Modernity – an end to male-run faiths and 'honour' crimes

Sunday, 22 November 2009

When demonstrators gathered in London yesterday to protest against sharia, the Archbishop of Canterbury was otherwise engaged with the Pope. It's almost two years since Rowan Williams caused an outcry when he suggested that recognising aspects of sharia would help social cohesion, and, every day, evidence accumulates to show how wrong he was. Women, girls and young men desperately need protection from religious laws and the patriarchal attitudes associated with them, as two ghastly events demonstrated last week.