Victor Davis Hanson: Military Solutions? Myths About the US Military; what we need in Iraq ...

pajamasmedia.com ^ | January 3, 2007 | Victor Davis Hanson

[Tolik]

    Victor Davis Hanson Ping ! 

       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/

[Patrick1]

Dr. Hansen really needs to stop confusing the left with facts.

[kinghorse]

My hero! A lot of what I know comes political and anthropological comes from reading this gentleman's writings. In essence, I'll guess that Mr.Hanson thinks it's cool and proper we go through this public debate re our involvement in the affairs of the ME. He probably says we'll be guided to the proper path through the open exchange of ideas.

/Hanson turned me onto the idea the invention of the stirrup helped catapult Spain to world dominance for a spell of history. That's a staggering thought. A little piece of bent metal and leather straps made conquest possible.

[wastedyears]

So he says there's a way to win? I never knew

/s

[KC_Conspirator]

In the past, there have been modern divisions of the American army that have been nearly ruined, but nothing of the sort has transpired in Iraq. Here one thinks of the 6th Marine Division that did the most gruesome fighting on Okinawa and suffered over 8,000 killed or wounded in less than 90 days—nearly half its original combat strength attrited in a single battle. After 24 hours of fighting in the first day of the Bulge, the US 28th and 106th infantry divisions ceased to exist as effective combat units, with nearly half their soldiers killed, wounded, or captured. The 7th and 2nd infantry divisions that retreated from the Yalu River under attack by hundreds of thousands of Chinese communists were nearly decimated. To say that the American military is ruined after fighting in Iraq is preposterous by both present and past standards of combat losses.

But that is precisely what many liberals here in the DC area, since some general said so. It is preposterous on its face.

[melancholy]

Ping.........

[johnny7]

MacArthur told Eichelberger:

“Bob, I want you to take Buna, or not come back alive ... And that goes for your chief of staff, too.”

[kinghorse]

Ok I read it. :)

Does anyone else think there should be a shift to allowing the Iraqis to clean up their own cities and move our troops out of the cities and along the borders? This would shift the emphasis to killing any and all infiltrators along the border. Rules of engagement should be very loose for border security. Who knows, there might even be an incident with Syria or Iran. Have the Saudis started with the fence?

[kabar]

Bravo, VDH. Someone needs to discuss Iraq in some sort of historical context. The hyperbole has been deafening and totally wrong.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

As usual, VDH goes to the heart of the matter. I have read most of his books, which deal with classical military history. I think the one weak link in VDH's analysis is the political climate.

[Little Ray]

Grant and Sherman would be out of the service for drinking and smoking.
Patton would be kicked out for being insensitive and politically incorrect.
Dunno 'bout Ridgeway, or Abrams, but I bet they'd have had problems that would keep 'em from making general, too.

[LS]

And, as I show in my book "America's Victories," these kinds of claims about the American military being "broken" pop up in EVERY SINGLE WAR we've had, save perhaps WW II. ALL of our enemies, in every war, thought we were pushovers. Santa Anna promised to be in Washington D.C. in a few weeks after he took over as dictator; the British were supremely confident they would beat us in 1812. There was HUGE opposition to the War of 1812, Mexican War, and Sp-Am War, too.

[billbears]

These questions about the transition from conventional to asymmetrical warfare always have nagged—why did the armies of Sherman and Grant who crushed nearly half-a-million Confederate soldiers in a little over a year from summer 1864 to spring 1865, not secure Reconstruction in 12 miserable years of failure, in the face of a few thousands Klansmen, and assorted night riders?

Just a wild guess but by that time Grant's administration was so crooked it was unbelievable and William "All Indians who are not on reservations are hostile and will remain so until killed off" Sherm was taking his racism out to the Indians? Not to mention the carpetbaggers that had moved in for the quick buck on the backs of Southerners? And why the Southern situation wasn't 'fixed' had more to do with the obstinance of the Radical Republicans than a few roving bands of Klansmen.

And all this somehow equates to military action in another country thousands of miles away and why that situation may not be where some think it should be. You have to hand it to Vic though. At least he's up to the 19th century with his revisionism. I was tiring a bit of his convulted attempts to equate Greek history to Middle Eastern 21st century military tactics.

[Nancee]

"Pong"!!!

This game I would stand a chance at beating you at.

[melancholy]

What a wonderful writer, isn't he?

This game I would stand a chance at beating you at.

LOL!

You fell into a trap! Ask my daughter about the game and VDH!! LOLOLOL

You're gitin' mail! I'm laughing so hard, tears are coming down! LOLOLOL

[bukkdems]

I agree with you billbears. Federal agents managed to turn every small farmer into a sharecropper during Reconstruction, and the entire South had their forests cut down. I believe it is studied in military colleges as the worst post-war administration in the history of warfare.

Why can't we look at how modern Muslim leaders control their people? It is quite simple. They get rid of clerics who oppose them. After all, it's religion that drives these idiots, and their religion comes in shades from practical to fanatic.

We need to do as Tunisia does; ban the veil in Iraq and this will bring out the fanatics to be eliminated. There is nothing in the Koran about the veil.

[xuberalles]

I agree...great post!


"Support Our Troops...Shoot The Media!"
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[ClaireSolt]

Not only are the American people tired of hearing that stuff, but it has to make things harder to keep boradcasting it to our enemies.

[Nancee]

"I'm laughing so hard, tears are coming down! LOLOLOL"

Well, how does it feel?