War Folklore… A great article to check out!


  • Read the article by Victor David Hanson. He briefly addresses USA’s hyperpower and other unnamed countries’ hypopower status…just to mention one detail.

    Source :
    http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson072503.asp

    From his article let me quote most of his conclusion…

    “These are still perilous times. But if anyone on September 12, 2001, had predicted that 22 months later there would still be no repeat of 9/11; that bin Laden would be either quiet, dead, or in hiding; that al Qaeda would be dispersed, the Taliban gone, and the likes of a Mr. Karzai in Kabul; that Saddam Hussein would be out of power, his sons dead, and an Iraqi national council emerging in his place; that US troops would be leaving Saudi Arabia, Arafat ostracized, and Sharon seeking negotiations; that new Middle East agreements under discussion — and all at a cost of fewer than 300 American lives” (granted he’s forgetting a few Limeys, Canucks, and bravest of the brave Poles[They survived and now thrive, after 50 years of fearing and spying on the Germans and the Soviets.]) "— then he would surely have been written off as a madman.

    So far we have lost fewer lives in Afghanistan and Iraq than we did in a single day’s butchery in the Marine barracks in Lebanon. But unlike that terrible sacrifice, this time Americans are fighting back, winning, and changing for the better the lives of millions in the most remarkable, ambitious, and risky endeavor since the end of World War II.”

    But there’s a lot more you are missing if you don’t check it out!


  • Nicely put. :)


  • I like the “True, we enjoy unmatched military strength.”
    Especially as I as ESL took the “enjoy” in its most common meaning first, to have joy in the military strength. Prussia had that as well.
    And i also liked the way of total subjectiveness, the hooray-patriotism.

    Can anyone really blame me for sharing some of the US stereotypes/prejudices when USies serve them on a plate?


  • well F_alk - you have to look at who his audience is.
    I have to laugh when my parents have me read a National Post article against gun control. It’s like putting a “golf is good” article in a Golf Lovers magazine.
    Also i don’t think he’s completely off, but you’re right - after a while the claims that he makes are a bit too much.
    loved this line:
    A year from now it is also probable that millions of unsavory Baathist documents will have been cataloged and translated. The fate of the Hussein tribe is becoming clear. Consensual government will be stronger. Those in the know about Saddam’s past crimes will become more talkative.

    I’m hoping that Saddam get’s captured alive. Unlikely tho’ as once he begins talking, it will be curious to get his version of the US-Iraqi cooperation that brought about the current situation.

    also this line:
    Finally, note that the purported communiqués from Saddam’s guerrillas repeatedly insist that America’s intervention was based on lies and falsehoods about WMD. In contrast, 25 million Iraqis are mostly silent on the issue. Are Saddam’s murderers, or his victims, the better allies in the present debate
    good grief!! Is it possible that 25 million Iraqis don’t know anything about WMD? Otherwise at this point at least 1/25 000 000 might say - oh guys - they’re over here. Can i have some candy now?

    “Our sin was mostly that we won the Cold War, kept active in NATO, and did not disarm after the fall of the Berlin Wall. When one of two superpowers is still standing, then ipso facto the survivor usually enjoys twice its former relative power” - bad math. I’d say closer to 10 times its former relative power. With no balance - the U.S. is all alone at the top with close to 10 times the relative military might of the current number 2 nation.

    so what we have here is a war-hawk writing to assuage the collective conscience of the nation of war-hawks. He has enough truths with his ra-ra patriotism to be compelling to those who don’t see beneath the surface, and he has provided arguments against issues which did not appear to be real issues, and wrapped them in a little “we’re the greatest” bun to make for an appealling little dish to people who were for war in the first place.


  • I “enjoy” the opinion that no one on this fora is biased.

    “Candy” anyone?


  • Hey!!
    i’m biased!!
    especially to those offering me candy . . . .


  • @cystic:

    Hey!! i’m biased!!
    especially to those offering me candy . . . .

    A spark of wisdom!
    Will he put it to use?

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