The Spectator

Who can imagine the appalling strangeness of being ‘linked’ to the assassination of a man whom you have not heard of, in a country you have never visited, for reasons you do not understand? Perhaps Kafka. Who can imagine the appalling strangeness of being ‘linked’ to the assassination of a man whom you have not heard of, in a country you have never visited, for reasons you do not understand? Perhaps Kafka. Certainly Michael Lawrence Barney, a recovering quadruple-bypass patient who returned from work to find his children staring at the newspaper, wondering if their father was a terrorist. Melvyn Adam Mildiner must know the feeling, too. He was suffering from pneumonia when he discovered that Interpol had issued a warrant for his arrest.

Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers' Wall. For those who haven't come across the Wall before, it's a post we put up each Monday, on which - providing your writing isn't libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency - you'll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no topic, so there's no need to stay 'on topic' - which means you'll be able to debate with each other more freely and extensively. There's also no constraint on the length of what you write - so, in effect, you can become Coffee House bloggers. Anything's fair game - from political stories in your local paper, to chat about the latest football results.

Scientists must engage more Sir: Arguments over nuclear energy, stolen emails from the University of East Anglia and allegations about flawed climate data have indeed split the green movement (‘The global warming guerrillas’, 6 February). But sceptics mustn’t get too excited. The revelations alter nothing. The centuries-old climate science behind the greenhouse effect of gases, such as carbon dioxide, is indisput-able. The world is still warming and humanity is still mostly to blame. ‘Climategate’ should not be seen as a lapse in climate science but a failure to implement the rigorous procedures that ensure only substantiated evidence is published.

The latest issue of the Spectator is published today. If you are a subscriber you can view it here. If you have not subscribed, but would like to view this week’s content, you can subscribe online here, or purchase a single issue here. A selection of articles has been made available, free, for all website users: Francis Fukuyama asks if the age of democracy is over. James Forsyth believes that the war over Joanne Cash tells us a lot about Cameron's Conservatives. Matthew Parris says that the Australian bush breaks your heart. Rod Liddle is adamant that we are all victims of institutional anti-racism. And Victoria Lane interviews Ruth Rendell.

When war is a crime Sir: Andrew Gilligan’s trenchant indictment of Blair (‘How can we punish Blair?’, 30 January) includes the mitigating claim that: ‘For all the cries that he is a “war criminal”, the Nuremberg Principles make clear that war crimes relate largely to atrocities committed in the course of combat or aggression. The act of war is not itself a war crime.’ This is incorrect. Count One of the Indictment at Nuremberg, read out on 20 November 1945, includes these words: ‘The common plan or conspiracy embraced the commission of Crimes against Peace in that the defendants planned, prepared, initiated and waged wars of aggression, which were also wars in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances.

The latest issue of the Spectator is published today. If you are a subscriber you can view it here. If you have not subscribed, but would like to view this week’s content, you can subscribe online here, or purchase a single issue here. A selection of articles have been made available, free, for all website users: Matt Ridley salutes the bloggers who changed the climate debate. James Forsyth warns that the Tories cannot continue to fight the election on a vague promise of "change". Rod Liddle asks whether it's racist to want an English-speaking cab driver. Deborah Ross reviews Clint Eastwood's Mandela biopic, Invictus. And Jeremy Clarke relates a mysterious conversation about a horse.