The Week.

-- Smith College -- the historic women's institution -- has amended its student constitution to exclude the pronouns "she" and "her." Why? As a news story explained, "a growing number of students identify themselves as transgender, and say they feel uncomfortable with female pronouns." Chimed in the school's director of institutional diversity (yes), "Smith College is a college for women, and within that there is a place for all kinds of women."

-- The above is not a joke.

-- Where are the weapons of mass destruction? We told the U.N. the Iraqis were building them, yet we have found next to nothing. A few empty mobile trailers; some rounded-up scientists -- what gives? Everyone should bear in mind the following points. Iraq had a nuclear reactor, until the Israelis bombed it. It used poison gas on Iran, and on its own Kurds. It played with U.N. weapons inspectors, then threw them out. How come? South Africa dismantled its advanced-weapons programs, and let the world know -- because it did not aspire to conquer Namibia. Veterans of the Iraqi weapons programs are potential criminals, which discourages them from talking now, and which would have encouraged them to destroy or smuggle out their handiwork once the war began. The major point, though, is that in a world of deceit and terror, of hidden contacts and outlaw networks, ambiguity about WMDs is not an acceptable posture. Civilization is not hasty; the United States and its allies let Iraq play out its string for twelve years. But nations do not have Miranda rights. If they do not come clean, they run the risk of being forcibly subdued.

-- What purpose do the terror alerts and their mysteriously shifting colors serve? They remind us that al-Qaeda, though down, is not out; the spastically evil will continue to twitch until the whole brood is hunted down. Let the hunting continue. The terror alerts are also a crude way, in a secret war, of sharing information with the public. Increased numbers of cops or soldiers at airports, bridges, and tunnels cannot be concealed. Their presence, in the face of official silence, would give rise to rumors and urban legends. Raising the alert level to orange lets the public know that the government knows, and the government acknowledge that the public notices.

-- The major improvement in the life of Iraqis was the fall of Saddam Hussein. Any government was better than his, even no government. But two months later, their condition has begun to improve yet again. The United Nations, after spiteful French dithering, has lifted its embargo and recognized the Anglo-American occupation. Retired general Jay Garner has been replaced by L. Paul Bremer III, a Reaganite diplomat. Garner was seen as having easygoing virtues, but the situation required more, which Bremer has been brought in to supply. In the Wall Street Journal, Donald Rumsfeld outlined core principles for a free Iraq. The United States has asserted authority, making clear that it will stay as long as it must. It is serious about security: U.S. troops in Baghdad will be patrolling the streets, and Bernard Kerik, former NYPD commissioner, will revamp the Iraqi police. America will establish justice, rooting Baathists out of their jobs, trying war criminals, and adjudicating property claims. The oil industry should be run transparently, and for the benefit of Iraqis (how about monthly dividend checks to every citizen?). Rumsfeld mentioned minority rights in passing, which must be stressed, especially religious rights. He might have mentioned the rights of women. Once these parameters are in place, Iraqis can take up partisan politics, without the risk of holding one vote, one time. Iraq is a wealthy, fertile country with demographic checks and balances; America is right to help these promising conditions bear fruit.

-- The terrorist bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killed 34 people, nine of them Americans. The bombings directed jihadist violence, in part, at the Saudis, who hitherto ignored the problem that they themselves have fostered (the interior minister, a 71-year-old prince, blamed 9/11 on "Jews"). As al-Qaeda, blunted in its international outreach, fouls its own nest, some Saudis will be forced to reexamine that stance. The masterminds of this operation, meanwhile, appear to have been mid-level Qaeda operatives, promoted by the recent rash of vacancies in their ranks, living in Iran. Like the Saudis, the ...