Throw-in-the-towel remarks common in past U.S. wars

The Mercury News ^ | Dec. 15, 2005 | Victor Davis Hanson

[neverdem]

``I implore you to inaugurate or invite proposals for peace forthwith. And in case peace cannot now be made, consent to an armistice for one year.''

What unpopular war was that?

And does the following gloom about American military prospects also sound familiar?: ``Unless some positive and immediate action is taken, hope for success cannot be justified. . . . Final destruction can reasonably be contemplated.''

The first throw-in-the-towel remark, however, did not come from Howard Dean or John Murtha -- but from Horace Greeley about the Civil War during the depressing summer of 1864. And the second quote is Douglas MacArthur's bleak assessment not long after the Chinese Red Army crossed the Yalu River in the autumn of 1950.

Similar despair could be recalled from the winter of 1776, the Imperial German offensive of March 1918 or the early months of 1942 after Pearl Harbor and the Allies' loss of the Philippines and Singapore.

America has not fought a war when at some point the news from the battlefield did not evoke a frenzy of recriminations both abroad and at home.

After the carnage of the Wilderness, Cold Harbor and Petersburg in 1864, the conventional wisdom about the Civil War was that the bumbling Abraham Lincoln could never win re-election. Instead, all summer the veteran Gen. George McClellan assured the Northern populace that there was no hope of military victory.

In November 1950, after Americans were sent scurrying southward by the Chinese, most pundits wrote off Korea as lost -- before the unexpected counteroffensives of Gen. Matthew Ridgeway saved the Seoul government by the next spring.

We can derive three historical lessons that are relevant to our present finger-pointing over Iraq.

First, hysteria arises at home in almost all our wars. We almost forgot that after the recent miraculous...

[BenLurkin]

After the carnage of the Wilderness, Cold Harbor and Petersburg in 1864, the conventional wisdom about the Civil War was that the bumbling Abraham Lincoln could never win re-election.

"Conventional wisdom" among COPPERHEADS!

[DieHard the Hunter]

I think America should be given credit for prosecuting this war with a bare minimum of bloodshed on both sides.

So far, America has lost -- what -- about 2,000 brave troops in Iraq over the past 2 years. Far too many, sure. To put into perspective, America lost 2,400 troops on Omaha Beach alone, during the first day of the Normandie invasion. With plenty more casualties to come.

How can America's troops possibly concentrate and do their jobs properly, over the shrill cries from the sheeple to "bring 'em home because it's a disaster."

God's blessings on all those who choose to serve, and on their Families. Bring the troops home safe, Lord, victorious and in good health when the job is done. And thankyou for their sacrifice.

[colchicine]

The only problem with todays wars is that the people who want to cut and run actually have just enough power to swing people toward their side. All the while those leading the war don't have much of a backbone to stay the course.

[Ostlandr]

(to the tune of "When Johnny comes marching home":

"The Tyrant wears a peasant's face, beware, beware!
He'll bastardize the human race, beware, beware!
He's filled the country with vice and graft,
'You're in!' How do you like the Draft?
and we'll stop
that
too
when
Little Mac takes the helm!"

A political song from McClellan's campaign against Lincoln in 1864.

It seems that our current President is the most hated, reviled, and divisive Republican President since-
"Ape" Lincoln.

Of, course, ol' Honest Abe wasn't afraid to bring the boot of government down on disloyal media types- he even shut down a couple of newspapers in Chicago and placed them under military control.
And of course, there were draft riots in NYC, resulting in bloodshed and destruction.

Last time, people-

Lincoln was a Republican.

Jeff Davis was a Democrat.

[jiggyboy]

Sounds like McArthur was calling for more military action, not less...?

[Names Ash Housewares]

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110007663


None Dare Call It Conspiracy
We've been hearing variations on "BUSH LIED!!!!" for at least 60
years.


BY MORTON KELLER
Sunday, December 11, 2005 12:01 a.m. EST


Excerpts........


"Variations of "Bush lied" have been part of the political scene ever
since America plunged into its permanent overseas embroilment in the
Second World War. Reviewing that record won't settle the current
dispute over how and why we got into Iraq. But it should remind us
that George W. Bush's accusers are hardly walking in fresh snow.


The charge that FDR knew of the Japanese intention to attack Pearl
Harbor, but used it to ensure American entry into the war against the
Axis, surfaced after 1945, when the war was over, FDR was dead, and
the decks were cleared for some sleeves-rolled-up recrimination. In
1948 the progressive historian (and prewar isolationist) Charles A.
Beard accused FDR of "maneuvering the country into war." Anti-New Deal
Republicans such as Robert A. Taft, anxious for a stick with which to
whack at FDR, thought FDR's "policy of bluff" drove Japan to its Pearl
Harbor attack. The accusation never really took hold, but never wholly
faded away. Eccentric historian John Toland (who found much good in
Hitler) resurrected the FDR conspiracy story in his book "Infamy"
(1982), which unfortunately appeared a year after Gordon Prange's "At
Dawn We Slept" definitively buried it. "..........................


"History's lesson is this: in modern America, the path to war is beset
with actions that rest on uncertain or arguable justification. The
political/ideological fringes will craft theories of conspiracy with
scant regard for fact or probability. And the opposition will make
what it can of this material, within the limits of political
prudence."

[TheRobb7]

ping 4 later read

[popdonnelly]

"Conventional wisdom" among COPPERHEADS!

And many of today's Dems act like their Copperhead ancestors.

[Zack Nguyen]

Thanks for sharing that song. The Democrats of the day were shockingly racist, particularly in the 1868 campaign where they ran on a platform of white rule.

[Ostlandr]

"Conventional wisdom" among COPPERHEADS!

And many of today's Dems act like their Copperhead ancestors."

Of course. By and large, they're rich elitist liberals who have a vested interest in keeping blacks in their place.

In 1862, they had money invested in the Cotton trade.

In 2005, they depend on the welfare state for votes.

[neverdem]

Mightier Than the Pen - Why I gave up Journalism to Join the Marines

Glimpses of Guantanamo — Medical Ethics and the War on Terror (New England Journal of Medicine)

The author of the Gitmo article sounds like a fellow traveler in more ways than one. Mark Levin read the VDH article on his show. Laura Ingraham read the MATT POTTINGER column on her show. I went to http://lauraingraham.com/. Enter a name and email addy for the rest of the story.

From time to time, I’ll ping on noteworthy articles about politics, foreign and military affairs. FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.

[neverdem]

Thanks for the link.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[wardaddy]

it's more complex than all that backslapping but yall don't let that get in your way of having fun

[Rembrandt]

"I think America should be given credit for prosecuting this war with a bare minimum of bloodshed on both sides."

I haven't done the math but I suspect, when one divides the number of people directly involved in these various conflicts into the number of casualties, this war is the least costly of those considered. The Revolutionary, Civil, WWI, WWII, Korean and VN conflicts were horribly bloody affairs with large, large numbers of dead on both sides. I suspect Bubba's Bosnia adventure would fare poorly since, by contrast with the current conflict, Bosnia has been a conflict relying on dumb bombs probably hitting population centers.

[TruthWillWin]

The only problem with todays wars is that the people who want to cut and run actually have just enough power to swing people toward their side.

The fact the "the people who want to cut and run" includes the MSM gives them their power.

[karnage]

"America should be given credit for prosecuting this war with a bare minimum of bloodshed on both sides."

How many Iraqis have died in this war? Does anyone know?

[FreedomPoster]

Someone posted an article here - one of Steyn's perhaps? - that made reference to "today's Copperhead Democrats".

I cracked up, immediately knew who was being referred to.