Posted on 02/08/2006 10:49:05 AM PST by Tolik
Why did the successful war in Iraq to replace Saddam Hussein with a democracy lose the majority support of the American public? Despite steady U.S. military progress against jihadists, and the bold endorsement of peaceful self-rule by 11 million Iraqis, public approval was slowly eroded by an accumulation of hits...
...Perhaps most of all, public ambivalence about the Iraq war is due to generalized ignorance of military history. Without guidance from the past, too many people are shepherded through the experience of war by nothing deeper than the rollercoaster emotions whipped up by 24-hour news coverage of explosions and suicide bombings...
...there has been no Darwinian evolution of human nature in the very short span of civilization. The old threats of passion remain constant and predictable. Nor has the use of sophisticated technology and computers altered either the chemistry or hard-wiring of our brains. Rather than denying the human propensity for violence, it is far wiser to accept it and then defend the rules of civilization that alone can contain and ameliorate it.
Modern life in Western countries has also become so privileged and protected that it is hard to convince affluent suburbanites that shooting and bombing your way to power remains a norm in much of the world. Wealthy moderns too often imagine that issues of governance, religion, and tribal affiliation are solved through talk shows, lawsuits, or “60 Minutes” reports. Mostly, though, these conflicts abroad continue to be settled through violence.
...Our enemies — who cling to history far more tightly than most Americans — know this. And because ...warrior fanatics understand our recent past, and their own distant one, better than we do, they will continue to fight in places, and with methods, that challenge our often unhistorical sense of the civilized self.
(Excerpt) Read more at victorhanson.com ...
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
mark
FDR was very concerned about losing support for WWII, even after Pearl Harbor.
Read and weep, then dry your eyes, clean your guns, check your ammo and stand by.
printing for study
Beacause Darwinism doesn't work; Human Evolution does not exist.
"Modern life in Western countries has also become so privileged and protected that it is hard to convince affluent suburbanites that shooting and bombing your way to power remains a norm in much of the world. Wealthy moderns too often imagine that issues of governance, religion, and tribal affiliation are solved through talk shows, lawsuits, or “60 Minutes” reports. Mostly, though, these conflicts abroad continue to be settled through violence."
Beautiful. This guy is priceless. His analysis is right on the mark.
Check, check, check, ammo ready, preparing to load and standing by.
The new Democrat party is simply shameless and dangerous.
I can attribute this to a number of factors:
1. The fixation on "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq through the current and prior administrations.
2. The childish, utopian "promoting the spread of democracy" crap the emanates from the mouth of every person inside the Beltway who makes a public statement in support of the war.
3. The blatant conflict of interest and pernicious actions of one Richard Perle, who had the unusual distinction of resigning twice in disgrace back in 2004 -- once as head of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board when he became a political liability for George W. Bush's re-election campaign, and then as a member of the board itself when his lobbying efforts in the Pentagon on behalf of Communist China were made public.
4. The delusional notion that democracy without an underlying culture that acknowledges and respects personal liberty is possible, or even desirable.
5. The violent, pathological response of Muslims all over the world to something as trivial and inconsequential as a newspaper cartoon . . . even as the secular Islamic national leader who had most clearly demonstrated his willingness and capability to deal with Islamic extremism in his country sits in an Iraqi prison and goes through a circus of a "trial" for his crimes.
If Victor David Hanson has any other questions he should contact me right here on FreeRepublic. I'll lay it all out for him.
VDH, excellent as usual.
I tried from '59 to '62, but they weren't shooting at me at The Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Sea Bee School, Port Huneme, CA, Fasron 200, W. Malling, G.B., MCB 6, Davisville, R.I, or Roosevelt Roads, PR.
Though I am not really sure about Puerto Rico.
I'm still ready. ;)
Excellent article! Should be required reading! Thanks for posting it.
So we should strive to be less priviledged and protected? Anyone can see this, it is the way the world is in 2006. Is there a solution?
"1. The fixation on "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq through the current and prior administrations."
That is about to get fixed...
Paging Bashar Assad! White Courtesy Telephone, Please!
This analysis is also ironic, when you consider that it was written by a guy whose profession lies somewhere in the realm of "college professor," "historian," "author" and "syndicated columnist" -- but the phrase "military background" appears nowhere on his resume.
He's just about fully convinced himself that he is Thucydides.
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