MAINSTREAM MEDIA BAFFLED BY 'WESTERN WAY OF WAR'

"Perspectives" (University of Dayton) forthcoming, and on-line at "Campus News" ^ | 4/8/03 | LS

[LS]

Ya.

[LS]

Well, France today is a "western" power in name only. Its military would be one of the weakest and "least western" forces of all western nations.

[Tamzee]

It was great to see this pulled together and explained so thoroughly... and I still don't think our liberal media dinosaurs will ever understand.

[syriacus]

Your students are lucky to have you teaching them.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

Point is this. What was, is no longer, this is the new face of war.

At this time in history only the US can afford the means to wage modern war effectively, there is no other country with the economy to compete.

[Starwind]

Great article.

It's patently obvious we are as serious about war and defense as we are about peace and prosperity, and we will wage either with all the technology and determination we can muster.

The only quagmire we get stuck in is the Democratic party whether in peace (the economy, judiciary) or war (Vietnam, Somalia).

[FierceDraka]

I stumbled across this one about a half-hour ago, was about to post it, and my mouse froze up. Damned cheap-a$$ Compaq machine!

I'm at work, so I just call up hardware support and get a new one. ;-)

[Billthedrill]

The direction of warfare away from Hanson's Western model and toward low-intensity covert activities has been broken with this intervention. One of the ground assumptions behind the covert, "asymmetric" model is that the niceties of international law would provide safe havens for organizations if they took the trouble to deny state funding or involvement; that a respect for national sovereignity would make direct confrontation unlikely or impossible. Under these restrictions the lilliputians can, in fact, tie down a giant - they did so in Vietnam.

This was a comfortable assumption for those who now scream loudest about how threatening U.S. "unilateralism" is. It should be remembered that not all of these are friends concerned about U.S. blundering, some are enemies angry that the rules of the game favoring them have been changed.

[Billthedrill]

I didn't realize the article was yours. Congratulations. I wish I were your student.

[Cicero]

John Keegan has also written on this "western way of war." It can be traced back to the Greek hoplites, independent farmer-citizens, who were expected to purchase their own equipment and bring it to the battle.

[okie01]

A concise and effective summary. A transcribed lecture? Your students are fortunate, indeed.

[cavtrooper21]

No, the old USSR tried to do this same thing, but hampered by politics, it never really got off the ground. The Soviet Navy was much better at learning from history, but the specter of political oversight still had its effects. I would imagine that they have given some thought to reviving this, but given the social and economic troubles that they are having, it may be years before they put something together that even comes close to the US and the UK.

[Congressman Billybob]

You have just had an experience I've had several times on FreeRepublic. I post something I've written, but some of the Freepers don't make the connection between my real name and my screen name. So, they are quite candid with me about the quality of the work of the "other guy" who wrote the posted article.

It's sort of like attending your own funeral. And that's a pleasant place to be when folks are complimenting your work. And this is a fine article, intensely logical, written in plain English. As a result of those massive "defects," most members of the lamestream media would be totally incapable of making head nor tail of it.

Cordially,

Congressman Billybob

Latest column, now up on UPI, and FR, "I Believe" (1957-2003)

Latest book(let), "to Restore Trust in America."

[Califelephant]

At this time in history only the US can afford the means to wage modern war effectively, there is no other country with the economy to compete.

And the only smart way for leaders of other countries to fit into this new dynamic is to focus their efforts on bringing freedom, peace and prosperity to their countries and to stay on the good side of the Americans.

Saddam: not smart. Kim ill: not smart. Iranian mullahs: also not smart.

[gcruse]

Hindsight as twenty-twentying up nicely amongst the laptop commandos.

[Cordova Belle]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS!

It's excellent!

Totally clear perception of the pinheads in the media (those NOT with the embeds.)

I'm grateful "poster LS" has a university platform from which to speak and perhaps change some young minds (I can't bear to call them "young skulls full of mush" as Rush so irreverently does--even though it's often apropriate!) ;-)

[Maynerd]

Victor Davis Hanson's book "Carnage and Culture," is an excellent piece of work. He states his thesis (as the op ed above summarizes) and effectively makes the case. He examines severeal historical landmark battles in detail. These vignettes are worth the price of the book alone.

BTW he directly refutes Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel" which claims western culture is merely a byproduct of our enrivonment. Typical self-loathing liberal pap.

[antaresequity]

When asked for his policy on the eliminating the Iraqi Army, General Powell said:

"First, we're going to cut it off, and then we're going to kill it."

[LS]

I hope you aren't accusing me of "hindsight." I posted MANY times during the war exactly what the "plan" was and why the plan was not only reasonable, but brilliant.

[texson66]

From the onset of hostilities, allied commanders, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, have consistently told the press exactly how the campaign would unfold. In a nutshell, the Rumsfeld/Franks plan resembled Gen. Douglas MacArthur's "Island Hopping" strategy in World War II in the Pacific, where, it is worth noting, MacArthur had the lowest casualty ratio-to-troops employed of any general in any theater of the entire war.

Excellent insight!Superb article!Now if only the media would take the time to read AND understand it!