Posted on 10/23/2006 4:43:37 AM PDT by Tolik
Let me know if you want in or out.
Links: FR Index of his articles: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=victordavishanson
His website: http://victorhanson.com/
NRO archive: http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson-archive.asp
New Link! http://victordavishanson.pajamasmedia.com/
I wonder why the left never grouses about the "perpetual" occupations of Germany and Japan?
Yes, its like they learned a wrong lesson from Superman and other hero comics: they discard the moral message, doubts and difficulties, but demand all the wrongs to be corrected in 20 minutes of an episode running time.
As Hanson and many other noted, US is not compared to others but to perfection, and this is an impossible standard that nobody can achieve, ever. By all normal human standards we are doing quite well.
I don't expect, if elected, the Liberals will follow a single word of it.
Here are the facts on Iraq. It is not a mess or a quagmiere or a disaster. It is a war. A war we are well on our way to winning.
Welcome American Leftist to the messy reality that War does not work like a Rambo Movie.
Here is the problem the American Conservative movement has from a PR Standpoint. They accept the terms of the debate imposed on them by the Leftists. The Leftists make wacko charge after wacko charge then we turn and argue with them from their absurd framework. We try to argue that well it only a little mess, or it a mess but we can fix it or it;s a mess but it would be worse if we leave.
Instead let us speak truth to whiners and point out to the Leftists why their accusations and assumptions about Iraq are absurd nonsense.
http://icasualties.org/oif/
http://icasualties.org/oif/IraqiDeaths.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Security_Forces
Now if only some of the armchair generals here would understand this....AKA It's not WWII.
Thousands in Iraq accept that they have crossed the Rubicon, and they must either make their own democracy work or suffer a fate worse than that of the boat people and the butchered in Southeast Asia when the Americans left.
I'm not saying this is what the left want, but this is what happened the last time they had their way. Some of us are still waiting to hear the words "we were wrong".
I wonder why the left never grouses about the "perpetual" occupations of Germany and Japan?
The occupations of Japan and Germany ended in 1952 and 1955 respectively. The United States kept troops there not to ensure good behavior by the Japanese and German governments, but, per treaty agreement with the Japanese and German governments, to defend them against the Soviet Union.
VDH is a classisist who looks upon the Roman Empire and its (temporary) Pax Romana as something the United States should emulate. He conveniently ignores the ultimate fate of the Roman Empire, and, indeed, of all empires. The notion of empire ultimately destroys all who are seduced by it.
The odd thing is that, for all the gloom and furor, and real blunders, nevertheless, by the historical standards of most wars, we have done well enough to win in Iraq, and still have a good shot of doing the impossible in seeing this government survive. More importantly still, worldwide we are beating the Islamic fundamentalists and their autocratic supporters. Iranian-style theocracy has not spread. For all the talk of losing Afghanistan, the Taliban are still dispersed or in hiding — so is al Qaeda. Europe is galvanizing against Islamism in a way unimaginable just three years ago. The world is finally focusing on Iran. Hezbollah did not win the last war, but lost both prestige and billions of dollars in infrastructure, despite a lackluster effort by Israel. Elections have embarrassed a Hamas that, the global community sees, destroys most of what it touches and now must publicly confess that it will never recognize Israel. Countries like Libya are turning, and Syria is more isolated. If we keep the pressure up in Iraq and Afghanistan and work with our allies, Islamism and its facilitators will be proven bankrupt.
In contrast, if we should withdraw from Iraq right now, there will be an industry in the next decade of hindsight exposés — but they won’t be the gotcha ones like State of Denial or Fiasco. Instead we will revisit the 1974-5 Vietnam genre of hindsight — of why after such heartbreak and sacrifice the United States gave up when it was so close to succeeding.
A very important essay, and the same message that Wes Pruden put in his column last Tuesday. I hope Tony Snow keeps reiterating these points every time the WH pressies challenge him.
Considering the number of bases we have in numerous foreign countries, I suppose an argument could be made that we're "occupying" a number of countries.
Not that that's a bad thing IMO.
"Not that that's a bad thing IMO."
It's not a good thing. All it does is expand our defense responsibilites far beyond the United States (one of the symptoms of "empireitis") and takes the slack off of our "allies" to defend themselves. The lackluster (to put it mildly) performance of the "Iraqi" military is proof of this.
Weather we like it or not we have a emipre (after a fashion) Not an empire like the British or the Soviets or the French had, but one in that we dominate the world economically, culturally, militarily. We got it as a result of the cold war (I'm telling you anything you don't already know)That being said, the wporld is becoming a small interconnected place and is becoming more so everyday, and we must be involved. The days are long gone (if they ever really existed) for America to be in isolation.
The lackluster (to put it mildly) performance of the "Iraqi" military is proof of this.
Unlike the performance of the American Army in the revolutionary war and the War of 1812. My point is that given the fact that they are starting from ground zero, they're not doing to bad.
Your reference to "empire" makes your views suspect. If we were an empire, wouldn't we be making every place we've conquered a province or a state? A territory? Something to signify that we're (the US gum'mint) in charge? These things haven't happened anywhere, with the possible exception of the Philippines where our sovereignty ran for about fifty years before we granted independence.
What about Hawaii? Whaaa! What about American Samoa? Whaaa!
The ARVN was doing very well in the field until the Dems pulled the funding rug out from under them. Kinda hard to fight off the enemy when your rifle has an empty magazine.
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