Huck Finn and the Nuremberg Rally
by Bruce S. Thornton The New Individualist Some of the most frightening images from Nazi Germany can be seen in Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will, the cinematic record of the 1934 week-long party rally held in Nuremberg .
The West’s Multi-Headed Monster
Placing Zarqawi’s death in perspective by Raymond Ibrahim Private Papers Immediately after the announcement of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s death — Osama bin Laden’s “prince of al-Qaeda in Iraq” — almost every major politician, including President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, and Iraq’s new Prime Minister Maliki gave some sort of victory speech, some highly triumphant, […]
Socrates on Illegal Immigration
by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services After Socrates was convicted by a court of questionable charges, his friends planned to break him out of his jail in Athens. But the philosopher refused to flee. Instead, he insisted that a citizen who lived in a consensual society should not pick and choose which laws he […]
Betting on Defeat?
It’s far from a safe bet. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online Lately, it has become popular to recant on Iraq. When 2,500 Americans are lost, and when the improvised explosive device monopolizes the war coverage, it is easy to see why — especially with elections coming up in November, and presidential primaries not […]
The New Immigration Politics
Wherein, for example, the rich and poor join hands. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online [A shorter version of this essay appeared in the June 5, 2006 issue of National Review magazine.]
How Oil Lubricates Our Enemies
by Victor Davis Hanson The American Enterprise Online With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Marxism was discredited as an unworkable — and often murderous — alternative to consumer capitalism. Eastern Europe was freed and began to prosper in a manner unimaginable just a decade earlier.
Iran’s Nuclear Scorpion
by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services Why did the United States suddenly reverse course and agree to negotiate directly with the Iranians over their development of a nuclear arsenal?
Vietnam, After All?
Formulaic warfare. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online As with the formulaic type scenes of Homeric epic, there now arises a sense of familiarity with the current outcries over Haditha.
Refighting the War
by Victor Davis Hanson Commentary Magazine Ten years ago, Michael R. Gordon of the New York Times and the retired General Bernard Trainor wrote a critically acclaimed revisionist history of the first Gulf war.
Endless Summer?
by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services The European countryside is as beautiful as ever. Hotels in the cities are as packed as they are high-priced. Tourists fill Rome. The same bustle is evident from Lisbon to Frankfurt. Everywhere European stewards welcome in millions of sightseers to enjoy the treasures of Western civilization. Never has […]
The American Way of War
And the constraints on American power. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online The Alternative to Punitive War The nature of American military power in our age is defined by how it is constrained — through nuclear deterrence, political realities, and cost/benefit analysis.
Lying, Defying and Demoralizing
OBL’s three-fold strategy to defeat the West by Raymond Ibrahim Private Papers Like all of Osama bin Laden’s previous messages to the West, his most recent communiqué contains three Ladenese trademarks — lying, defying, and demoralizing — that are always present whenever the al Qaeda chieftain addresses the West.
The New World of Immigration
by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services In the dark of these rural spring mornings, I see full vans of Mexican laborers speeding by my farmhouse on their way to the western side of California’s San Joaquin Valley to do the backbreaking work of weeding cotton, thinning tree fruit and picking strawberries.
Looking Back at Iraq.
A war to be proud of. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online There may be a lot to regret about the past policy of the United States in the Middle East, but the removal of Saddam Hussein and the effort to birth democracy in his place is surely not one of them. And we […]
A Panhandler’s World
Where the monies flow from university coffers. by Bruce S. Thornton Private Papers If you have a child in college or are yourself a college graduate, university panhandlers are constantly pestering you for money.
Culture of Arrogance
Confirmation is the least of problems for a new CIA director. by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services Porter Goss has just resigned his post as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. His executive director, Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, is apparently under investigation. Goss’ designated successor, Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, faces a tough confirmation fight.
Anti-Anti-Americanism
Dealing with the crazy world after Iraq. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online How does the United States deal with a corrupt world in which we are blamed even for the good we do, while others are praised when they do wrong or remain indifferent to suffering?
What Would Mohammad Do?
by Raymond Ibrahim Private Papers We’ve all seen them — those little wristbands Christians sometimes wear, or put on bumper stickers, with the acronym “WWJD?” — What Would Jesus Do?
Too Few Troops?
by Victor Davis Hanson The American Enterprise Online When Saddam’s statue fell in April 2003, 70 percent of the American people, along with both Houses of Congress that authorized the war, were quite happy with President Bush’s decision to depose the Baathist regime. Three years and a messy reconstruction later, less than half the public […]
Fig-Leaf Diplomacy
The madness of financial support to a hostile Hamas. by Bruce S. Thornton Private Papers The drama being played out between Hamas and the West grows stranger by the minute, exposing the cultural toxins that are weakening our resolve in the fight against jihad.