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 ...
"Why war will never go away
Apart from these specific historical lessons, there are four bothersome facts about war that contemporary minds, full of utopian hopes, often fail to grasp"
While I agree with him on his four facts about war, I disagree that war will never go away, and I don't consider myself a utopian in any goofy sense.
I believe in the prophecies of the Bible. Specifically the book of Isaiah, which promises that we will get to a place on planet earth when we will not learn war anymore. And the earth will be at peace.
I believe this with all my heart. How we get from point A - where we are now, and point B - where we are heading, in terms of a thousands years of peace, remains to be seen, but I have to believe that the internet will hasten and fuel truth and knowledge being poured over the nations of the world, and that in the end it is the truth that will set us free from war.
I am completely supportive of the war in Iraq and the current democracy building that is going on around the world. May it only grow exponentially as the years pass, and may all of the peoples of every nation be enabled to live in freedom!
Jenny
PS If you would like to read one of my personal favorite books on war, please read The Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ. I have read it 22 times and it contains the keys to people being free, as well as the most common causes for war. Here is the link to read it online http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bm/contents
Because the bulk of the Democrat Party is made up of craven, short-sighted, selfish, "what's-in-it-for-me" morons. Then there's another significant block of Americans who only care about who will become the next "American Idol."
Yet on the issue of war I trust VDH's perspective more than I do that of that great warrior, Wesley Clark.
On the issue of automotive mechanics I would trust the perspective of a seven year-old child more than the perspective of his three year-old brother. But neither one of them is going to be poking around under the hood of my car anytime soon.
The fact that VDH has been a visiting professor at the Naval War College indicates that the military respects his perspective as well.
While a military background is surely useful for a military historian, it is hardly a neccessity.
The prolific and respected John Keegan , for example, has no military service aside from an academic appointment at Sandhurst.
I tend to agree. There was already great reluctance by European soldiers to be transferred to the Pacific, as they thought they had "done their time" and were looking to get out. Public opinion probably wouldn't have held too long, either, if actual bloody invasions of the islands, one by one, had to take place.
I think I take VDH's assessment over yours. But thanks for sharing.
It has not lost the majority of support of the American public. Just because you say it, doesn't make it so.
The notion that if one isn't in the military, one can't analyze military things is as stupid as the notion that to deliver babies you have to have had them.
Precisely. ....or George McGovern, for that matter.
Of course, that's why a scant year later, the 16th President was expecting to lose the election. Because of the groundswell of public support... I do Vic believe has finally gone off the deep end. His grasp of history post-300 BC is interesting to say the least
Once wars begin almost anything is possible, since fighting gradually takes on a logic of its own
Well he gets one thing right.
ROTFL!! I do believe that is the best description of Vic I have ever seen
Sometime in this fourth year of the Iraq war, our number of KIA will reach the 2,340 lost at Pearl Harbor in the first three hours of WWII.
Superbly written!
"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."
This is where the liberals and global socialists make their mistake. They think they can change human nature.
So do I.
Glad someone got it ;-)
The democratic party and the MSM are traitors. They don't care how many Americans die as long as they drive republicans from the WH. In fact, they're secretly longing for another 9/11, which they will promptly blame on GW and the republicans. If you caught PBS last night, VP Cheney was interviewed by Lehrer, who didn't bother to conceal his bias. Cheney corrected the slant time and time again, kept his cool, and made Lehrer look like a fool.
I think, no matter what horrible catastrophes fall on mankind, there will always be at least one person that wants something another has, and will take it by force if necessary. As long as this happens, war will always be with us.
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