On the front page of the NY Times today is a giant color photo of more than a 1,000 soldiers being sworn in for further duty in Iraq, by Gen. Petraeus. The photo shows the face of the future dictator, the backs of the soldiers, and a giant government flag about the size of Halliburton. Even if most of these kids were not being forced into re-upping, are we really supposed to find this totalitarian display inspiring? I immediately thought of Albert Jay Nock’s comparison of a military parade to an ant colony on the move.