My readers? You give me way too much credit.
You are debating semantics at this point to the question of whether VDH brings anything to the table when discussing current national security affairs.
My reading of his stuff tells me that in hindsight, he believes that the case could have been made that Serbia posed a threat to the United States. Did he mean this cynically perhaps? Fair, but I take him at his word.
You are debating semantics...There is nothing at all semantical about the question under discussion!
Here's your original post:
He thought Serbia posed a threat to the United States; that rather puts into question his knowledge of contemporary national security questions, doesn't it?
Do you claim that Hanson thought American national security depended on our intervention in Serbia or don't you?
Semantics has nothing to do with it.