Military history tells the story of human nature at its great heights and terrible lows. by Bruce S. Thornton // Defining Ideas In the latter years of World War I, Winston Churchill met with the novelist and poet Siegfried Sassoon. Sassoon was a winner of the Military Cross––he single-handedly routed 60 Germans and captured a trench […]
Why Should We Study War? Read More »
Obama’s foreign policy of appeasement has created a dangerous void in the international order. by Victor Davis Hanson // Defining Ideas The standard critique of President Obama’s foreign policy is now generally well-known—mercurial, paradoxical, and passive. “Leading from behind” seems at odds with the traditional American commitment to ensure—preferably with allies or, if need be, alone—the
The Failure of American Leadership Read More »
“I will concede that you are almost always right (no joke). However, I don’t agree that a year from now the “American public will have a vague idea that about a year earlier something happened sometime to someone in Syria, but what and when and where and why they are not quite sure.” Share This
VDH UltraAngry Reader #9 — A Facebook Comment Read More »
Our Hamlet-in-cheif wanted simultaneously to act and not act. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online The Syrian fiasco arose from two mutually contradictory desires. Barack Obama sincerely wanted Bashar Assad to stop killing his own people. Barack Obama also really was not willing to use force to ensure that Assad would stop killing his
Obama’s Box Canyon Read More »
by Victor Davis Hanson // NRO’s The Corner We are contemplating going to war in Syria to help the opposition a lot and to hurt Assad some, or to help the opposition some and hurt Assad a lot, or to hurt Assad some and help the opposition some, or to force Assad to stop or to
Syria in a Nutshell Read More »
by Bruce S. Thornton // FrontPage Magazine On the eve of the 12thanniversary of the terrorist strikes on 9/11, President Obama last night addressed the nation and reprised every delusional and bankrupt internationalist idea that contributed to that disaster. The current Syrian crisis––merely the latest Middle Eastern example of Obama’s incompetence––exemplifies more thoroughly than the rest
Fifteen Minutes of Foreign Policy Malfeasance Read More »
by Victor Davis Hanson // NRO’s The Corner “It was a delight to hear the voice speaking, all that it said seemed wise and reasonable, and desire woke in them by swift agreement to seem wise themselves.” — J. R. R. Tolkien, The Two Towers. If it were regrettable that Vladimir Putin’s formidable diplomatic skills were wasted
Putin — Saruman Come Alive Read More »
by Victor Davis Hanson // PJ Media 1) Red lines: Does anyone believe we would be on the eve of a war with Syria had not Barack Obama on two occasions — echoed on two others by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — warned Bashar Assad of red lines surrounding the use of WMD? Share This
Syrian Knowns and Unknowns Read More »
He sold his plan for bombing Syria on flawed political assumptions. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online To support the president’s enforcement of his red line in Syria requires suspensions of disbelief. Here are several. I wish it were not true, but there is scant evidence that the world, led by the U.S.,
by Victor Davis Hanson // NRO’s The Corner There are lots of reasons why many of us who would like to punish the Assad-family regime for its long history of anti-American and savage and genocidal conduct fear the present course is unwise, not in America’s interest, and dangerous — at least as it has so far
On Poking Animals and Other Stupid Things Read More »