For quite a while now I’ve been impressed by the fact that leading literary lights, for all their creativity and art, can be very dim bulbs indeed when dealing with certain other aspects of human endeavor. I suppose that shouldn’t … Continue reading →
The book A Better War by Lewis Sorley has just gone on my all-too-lengthy must-read list (to find the book review, scroll down a bit after you click on the link). Yes, more “Vietnam revisionist” history. Dismissed by those who … Continue reading →
The recent NIE report could be considered a sort of verbal preemptive strike on any military preemptive strike that might have been aimed at Iran’s nuclear weapons program. I’ve already written about the NIE report itself, so I won’t repeat … Continue reading →
The best analyses of the new NIE report on the Iranian “now we see it, now we don’t” bomb can be found at Richard Fernandez’s Belmont Club. Please take a look at any and/or all of them: this, this, and … Continue reading →
Pity the poor Nation. The magazine, that is, not the country. The Nation’s editors must ache from bending over backwards to prove there’s nothing especially good about the good news in Iraq. The editors feel it’s their duty to make … Continue reading →
Commenter bunkerbuster speculated recently about the possible aftermath of a US troop withdrawal in Iraq: How many people would die in such a withdrawal? There is indeed a risk that fighting could escalate, though predictions of mass killing of the … Continue reading →
As Exhibit A, we have the exquisite sarcasm of General Robert E. Lee: It appears we have appointed our worst generals to command forces, and our most gifted and brilliant to edit newspapers. In fact, I discovered by reading newspapers … Continue reading →
One of Bush’s less well-publicized roles is to pay condolence calls on families of soldiers who have been killed in the war. To date, he has visited: …more than 1,500 relatives of the 4,255 American troops who have lost their … Continue reading →
The Syrians are not happy. The details are all very hush-hush, but rumor has it in the intelligence community that earlier this month something what very wrong with the shiny new missile defense system they had recently ordered from Russia. … Continue reading →
Here’s a great summary of a recent symposium on Vietnam history. It was written by Cinnamon Stillwell, another “changer”—and, in the interests of full disclosure, a friend of mine. Stillwell writes: The significance of the Vietnam War, both from a … Continue reading →
When I began my blog, I knew I wanted to specialize in trying to explain how change of mind—especially in the political sense—happens. I’ve written here how therapy involves change on three dimensions—mind, emotions, and action—and how intervention on any … Continue reading →
[Part I here.] The 60s in Vietnam represented a sea-change in attitude towards the military, and not only on the fringes of the Left. Respected mainstream jounalists began to see their task less as transmitting information and more as questioning … Continue reading →