In a recent Atlantic article by Robert Kaplan entitled “Rereading Vietnam,” the author discusses a number of books that have been given little press and short shrift by reviewers. These are histories and memoirs written by men who served in … Continue reading →
Remember those tests of perception known as figure/ground drawings? As a child I was fascinated by their magical “now you see it, now you see something else” mutability. Here are two of the most popular—the vase/profiles one and the young … Continue reading →
To continue with the theme of the last few days, this article that appeared in The American Prospect back in February is edifying in describing exactly how an increasingly antiwar Congress pressured Nixon back in the late 60s and early-to-mid-70s … Continue reading →
I’ve got an essay up at PJ today entitled “Finessing the Surge,” about politicians staking out a position on the current situation in Iraq. In my essay, I mention that they keep referencing that tragic image of helicopters attempting to … Continue reading →
Bush’s speech yesterday seems to have spawned a further opening of that wound that’s never really closed, the Vietnam War. Bush’s critics are incensed: after all, Iraq/Vietnam is their analogy, always good for a negative spin on what we’re doing … Continue reading →
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 →
[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 For example, in the case of My Lai, reports were originally made by US helicopter pilots who were shocked by what they saw … Continue reading →
Sometimes it’s hard to believe Henry Kissinger is still alive. He seemed so old already back when he was Secretary of State in the 70s to both Nixon and his successor Ford. Odd to recall Kissinger received the 1973 Nobel … Continue reading →
A succinct headline in the Washington Times summed it up nicely: “Anti-war protesters echo Vietnam.” The accent is on the word “echo”—as in “a distant, fainter, repetition.” The anti-Iraq War demonstrations in DC over this weekend were self-consciously and purposefully … Continue reading →
The Left likes to position itself as the champion of the underdog, the third world, the downtrodden, the oppressed. Until, that is, someone from one of those countries has the temerity to disagree with the party line. Just as the … Continue reading →
Yesterday I wrote about the limitations Congress might face in opposing a “surge” of American troops in Iraq if–as rumor would have it–such a surge is part of Bush’s new Iraq policy to be unveiled next week. Today I read … Continue reading →
Yesterday’s post of mine was linked at Dean Esmay, and my old friend mikeca wrote a critique in the comments section there. I’ve already debated mikeca’s viewpoint about whether or not the South Vietnamese ARVN might have held off against … Continue reading →