Posted on 06/04/2013 9:18:15 AM PDT by jazusamo
It is not really news that Victor Davis Hanson has written another outstanding and eye-opening book. He has done that before and repeatedly, on a variety of subjects.
The subject of his latest book, "The Savior Generals" is given in the subtitle: "How Five Great Commanders Saved Wars That Were Lost— From Ancient Greece to Iraq."
As both a military historian and a classicist scholar, Victor Davis Hanson is one of the few people qualified to cover such a wide sweep of history. As someone whose depth of knowledge and insight are already familiar to readers of his syndicated column, he is also one of the few who can discuss complex subjects in plain English.
The subject of "The Savior Generals" could not be more timely. It is about how seemingly hopeless situations can be— and have been— rescued from the brink of disaster. The situation of the United States of America today is similarly very dicey, both at home and abroad, both economically and militarily.
This book takes us through the history of how and why nations — both ancient and modern— have gotten themselves into potentially catastrophic situations, and how a new leader with clearer vision, and the character and courage to do what needs to be done, has saved situations that seemed irretrievable.
Both the old leaders who failed and the new leaders who succeeded are shown as three-dimensional human beings, with both flaws and virtues, not the cartoon-like images of public figures too often encountered in current discussions in the media or even in academia.
Those who turned out to have the decisive virtues at the decisive times include some who were failures at other times and in other settings, so "The Savior Generals" is not an exercise in hero-worship.
(Excerpt) Read more at creators.com ...
I like Thomas Sowell and Victor Davis Hanson. I admire their intelligence. But, if they both think David Petraeus was some kind of deep thinker, then I’m not as impressed with them anymore. Petraeus asked for more troops and that makes him brilliant? Wow. That must be the first time in history that a commander asked for reinforcements.
I wonder how many people appreciate that fact?
Yep, it doesn’t say much for our current leaders.
Sowell is right, but our savior general already came. Reagan is like Leonaides. He saved the country only to have it lost by a subsequent generations. Didn’t the Spartans fight alongside the Persians a few years after Thermopylae?
The same bunch that guaranteed the failure of the "surge" in Afghanistan. Obastard asked what is the barest minimum number of troops it would require, and he was told by the guys on the ground, 40,000. So, Obastard gave them 30,000, or 75% of what was needed. The surge failed, and Bush is blamed for that. Meanwhile Obastard and company fumbled the ball in Iraq as well, so both are going down as Vietnam-style defeats, all while blaming Bush for it.
It's a "win-win" as far as the Senators listed in the quote are concerned, because they were "proven correct," even if by their own perfidy.
Don't be too hard on him. He asked for more troops, and was given 3/4 of what he said would be the barest minimum to get the job done.
The PFC out walking point doesn’t have much say on strategy. He just walks point and he’s the first one to get shot. And when he dies, it rips someone’s heart to shreds. But he doesn’t get to be in front of the cameras or in the legislative hearings or at the barbecues with the politicians. He’s just “Joe”, out walking point.
Now Petraeus, he was a general. When you make general, you’re making enough money that you can retire and live a good life. You also have enough rank, as Petraeus did, to be noticed and listened to. “Joe” relies on those generals and admirals looking out for him. He trusts them.
My Dad was a Sergeant. He impressed on me the importance of the lives of American Soldiers. Goddamnit, he cried about his dead friends until he died.
We are 11 years into a war and we are going to lose it. Iraq is still a piece of shit. Petraeus should have done better, or he should have got out of the way or he should have made a statement and resigned. Instead, he dishonored my Army and his family. I was around generals. I have not been impressed. The Army needs to take a hard, honest look at their leaders, and they don’t have the guts to do it.
“Joe” deserves better leaders than he’s had these past few years.
I’m afraid the Dilbert Principle, in agreement with the Peter Principle, are at work in the Military just like anywhere else. The Peter Principle I’m sure you know, the Dilbert Principle states the most inept of a group will be elevated to its manager, as a way of keeping the skilled hands on the tasks.
Generals are politicians first during “peacetime.” We never got on a proper “war” footing because it was not politically tenable, as a result the brass kept working as it has since Korea. Loss of both Iraq and Afghan are assured for the same reason we threw away >50K good men in Vietnam..
Absolutely dead on correct. The last really great General we had was Patton and he was the most politically incorrect General we had in that war. He slapped a soldier for what he considered cowardliness and was forced by the “political” General, Eisenhower, to make and “apology”. So this goes back a long way.
I must admit I was never in the service. I feel sorry for people in it now, as I am whenever a Dem is CiC. They have no respect for soldiers.
Interesting, but Sowell is getting ahead of himself. First he has to figure out how we can rescue ourselves.
Powell is an affirmative action appointee (not totally, just the rapid assent to the top position), and an idiot racist for supporting ObaMao, but, he was right on Iraq needing a sufficient force to secure the transition of power. I have very mixed observations on the motives of Powell, but I have no doubt that he has love of his troops. Bush should have listened to him.
That seems to be one of the classic government reactions to a request for more resources: none, a torrent (more than asked—and it just keeps coming), or (in Patreaus' case) a trickle.
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