In today’s speech in Kansas City to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, President Bush gave the reconstruction efforts in Iraq the historical context some of us have been writing about for some time: the need to avoid the sort of … Continue reading →
“You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you,” is a quote attributed (apparently incorrectly?) to Leon Trotsky. Whether or not he actually said it, it seems true. And getting truer all the time—at least the … Continue reading →
[Part I here.] In previous wars, allegations of atrocities have been made by either victims or witnesses. For example, in the case of My Lai, reports were originally made by US helicopter pilots who were shocked by what they saw … Continue reading →
Private Beauchamp’s war dispatches to The New Republic have created a storm of attention and criticism (here’s a roundup, if you’d like to catch up on what the furor’s all about). The Army says Beauchamp lied, whereas TNR says his … Continue reading →
[This is a repeat of a post that first appeared here on June 10, 2006. I thought in light of the post I wrote today, it could bear repeating.] I was rummaging around the house where I’m staying, looking for … Continue reading →
A year comes round rather quickly, and once again it’s the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Nagasaki followed three days later, and Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945. To date these two bombs remain—astoundingly enough, … Continue reading →
Obama’s a newbie, and it shows. Last week he got into trouble for being too eager to negotiate with the enemy. In the You Tube debate, he acquiesced to the idea of Presidential meetings—no preconditions necessary—with the likes of N. … Continue reading →
The intrepid Michael Totten has some of the best reporting out of Iraq these days. Read his riveting eyewitness (minus night goggles, but armed with camera) account of a night raid in Baghdad with the 82nd Airborne on the lookout … Continue reading →
There are various mantras about the Iraq war that have become popular these days. One of them is that there is no military solution, only a political one. Another is that the surge isn’t working, sometimes modified lately to read: … Continue reading →
In a remarkable column by Terence Samuels at The American Prospect, the author praises Montana’s Democratic Senator Jon Tester for the following suggestion regarding the dilemma of what to do about the war in Iraq: He begins with the idea … Continue reading →
You’ve all seen those posters and bumper stickers: “War is not the answer.” You’ve also seen discussions of why those sporting them are incorrect; war has solved some things and provided answers to certain questions—such as whether, for example, there … Continue reading →
In my series on al-Marri and beyond, I made some suggestions for taking prisoners in this conflict. They involved the concept of incarcerating people “for the duration,” a standard practice in warfare. But we face a special problem in this … Continue reading →