“Granted, and that would be acceptable. But the words “snotty incompetence” don’t comport with an objective analysis — it’s just bashing.”
Well Ralph Peters is a editorial journalist(who are not known for their quiet reserve). He isn’t a historian and even historians often stray from “objective analyis”. But when future historians put pen to paper and want to find a good gage of American frustration with Bush and the Iraq war, they might find this article a good reference.
But he is. A military historian at least.
From the bio listed for his book "Beyond Terror":Ralph Peters retired from the U.S. Army in 1998, shortly after his promotion to lieutenant colonel, in order to write and speak freely. His service took him from the enlisted ranks to the Executive Office of the President, from the former Soviet Union to the Pentagon, and from the Andean Ridge to southeast Asia. Post-military travels have taken him to India, Indonesia, Egypt, and various other troubled regions. He believes that only firsthand observation allows a practical understanding of the world's problems. In addition to his first influential book on strategy, Fighting for the Future: