Letters from Lebanon

June 8, 1982: There is a feeling of security that comes from the mighty power we have at our disposal, and from a desire to be at the center of events. Despite this, I’m bothered by the lack of any rational basis for this mess. If our goal is to drive the PLO out of Lebanon, they still can escape to Turkey, Syria, Iran. . . If the pretext for starting the war is the assassination of our ambassador [in London], we may even be driving them further away, on into Europe, where they can kill...