Tom Cotton speaks for a large part of this country. Will we not listen?

The most serious criticism is that publication of the piece puts black lives at risk, including members of the Times staff.

That’s a vital consideration, especially now, and one about which no responsible publisher can be indifferent. No one can look away from the deaths of black Americans at the hands of the police, and the overall rise in reported hate crimes in recent years.

But as important as it is to try to keep people safe against genuine threats, it is not the duty of the paper to make people feel safe by refusing to publish a dismaying Op-Ed. Even if one concedes that Cotton’s call to send in the troops poses potential risks, it poses those risks whether his call appears in these pages or not. To know Cotton’s views is, if nothing else, to be better armed against them.

The same goes for any other type of knowledge, however unpleasant: Having more of it is always a source of strength — a belief that lies at the core of our profession.