Now that he seems poised to become the Democratic Presidential nominee, Obama is taking a bit of heat from McCain, his likely opponent, especially about Obama’s touchy-feely (that is, predominantly talky) foreign policy. It’s a different sort of heat than … Continue reading →
First we had the new counterinsurgency manual. Now the army has a new operations manual with an emphasis on postwar stabilization. This is referred to as a “newly minted doctrine” and “a major development that draws on the hard-learned lessons … Continue reading →
Anyone who reads this blog knows I consider the Iraq war one of the biggest issues of the day. Yes, it’s faded in the news, mostly because it’s going relatively well now. But Vietnam was also going relatively well in … Continue reading →
I’m still reading Lewis Sorley’s A Better War, about the second half of our involvement in Vietnam. It’s slow going, for many reasons. One of them is that it’s painful to read it and think what might have been. Not … Continue reading →
I’ve been reading Lewis Sorley’s A Better War, an examination of what I’ve referred to as the “second act” of the Vietnam War, the period of Vietnamization under General Creighton Abrams. I have a feeling I’ll be writing quite a … Continue reading →
[Part 7A can be found here. The rest of the series is located by clicking on the category “A mind is a difficult thing to change: my story” on the right sidebar.] The last thing I was thinking about during … Continue reading →
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 →