{"id":9679,"date":"2016-12-19T15:13:40","date_gmt":"2016-12-19T23:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=9679"},"modified":"2016-12-20T09:20:59","modified_gmt":"2016-12-20T17:20:59","slug":"9679-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/9679-2\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

From An Angry Reader:<\/h3>\n

Victor<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Your gloating and myopic column pillorying President Obama’s foreign policy legacy was simple minded and juvenile. Why write something so stupidly one sided?????<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0When Obama came into office we were losing 100 service people per month in a stupid war and as he leaves office, this number is down to one or two. This is a great result and legacy.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0He worked with Iraqi leaders to build an Army capable of retaking Mosul … and also improved cooperation between the different militias there. You didn’t mention this.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Real experts on Iran are touting the multi-lateral agreement closing down Iran’s ability to produce nuclear material and weapons….they say this agreement will give legitimacy to a country that simply wants to be a player in the middle east and whose impact result in greater stability in this area.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Under Obama we have not committed troops in the Syrian conflict …. one so complex and far from our national interest that this merits praise.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0He has also been allowing the CIA to conduct covert operations to stabilize Ukraine and punish the Russians for Crimea.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Why be so unnecessarily one sided that you come off as just another right-wing ass?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0John G. Schuiteman, Ph.D.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ashland, VA 23005<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Victor Davis Hanson’s Reply:<\/h3>\n

Dear Angry Reader Schuiteman,<\/p>\n

It is angry letters like yours that seem to sow dissension since you are, I fear, at times intellectually dishonest.<\/p>\n

I never wrote or implied the description \u201csimple minded\u201d or “juvenile\u201d; Obama certainly has a vision and sought to implement it\u2014one gleaned from his memoirs, his past associations, his apology tour, his Cairo speech, his various interviews, and his actions.<\/p>\n

I was not \u201cgloating\u201d or \u201cmyopic\u201d but rather factual in describing an Obama legacy\u2014reset with Putin, abrupt withdrawal in late 2011 from a quiet Iraq, the Libya\/Benghazi violence, the Iran deal, the Syrian calamity, estrangement from Israel, outreach to Cuba\u2014that even in the eyes of many Democratic observers has not worked, at least from the view of enhancing global and U.S. security. But from Obama\u2019s standpoint of scaling down U.S. influence, it has been a smashing success.<\/p>\n

You are not factual in your letter. Obama came into office on January 2009; the fatality rate in Iraq that month was 16 deaths\u2014not \u201c100.\u201d By December of 2009 it was 3 a month\u2014less than the monthly accident rate in the U.S. military. No wonder Biden (who flipped on the war and, when a presidential candidate, opposed it) suddenly called the quiet in Iraq possibly the administration\u2019s \u201cgreatest achievement.\u201d By December 2010, 1 soldier had died that month, and when Obama finished pulling out in December 2011 (as he praised Iraq\u2019s stability) it was 0 deaths. That decision was perhaps analogous to a hypothetical Eisenhower in late 1955 up for reelection like Obama, promising to get out of the Korean War that he did not \u201cstart,\u201d and therefore yanking all U.S. troops out by election day 1956 from a relatively quiet Korea. What would Seoul look like today\u2014something akin to Mosul or Baghdad?<\/p>\n

Again, when Obama pulled all U.S. troops out there were 0 fatalities in December 2011. That ensuing vacuum resurrected radical Sunni Islamic terrorists under the new ISIS imprimatur, brought in Iran, collapsed Iraq, was a catalyst of the destruction of Syria, and 500,000 dead\u2014and promoted now a steady reinsertion of U.S. troops.<\/p>\n

Are you now bragging that, after yanking all troops out of a quiet Iraq as a good thing, it was a better thing that he put some back in to stabilize a now violent Iraq?<\/p>\n

You become completely myopic when you write that Iran \u201csimply wants to be a player in the middle east (sic) and whose impact result (sic) in greater stability in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran has little actual need for a nuclear program, given its vast fossil fuels reserves, but a great need if it wishes to acquire a bomb and to spread its influence throughout the region and expand its Shiite\/Iranian\/Assad\/Hezbollah arc. If the deal is not overturned, a rich and influential Iran will set off a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, if it has not already. If the deal was transparent, why did we send cash at night on a pallet to the Iranians? Has their anti-Western rhetoric or action scaled down after the agreement? Are they working for peace in Syria? Reaching out to Israel? Praising Obama for his compromise? Respecting ships in the Gulf?<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s terrorism has been evident worldwide. There is no stability \u201cin this area.\u201d Obama\u2019s Iran deal has had one good result: it created a new alliance between moderate Sunni regimes, such as Jordan, Egypt, and some Gulf states, and Israel, whose mutual fears of a nuclear Iran and the American-sponsored deal have brought them together.<\/p>\n

Yes, we did not commit troops into Syria nor send aid to an ephemeral anti-Assad, anti-ISIS opposition, but we did threaten military action if WMDs were used (Obama\u2019s \u201credline\u201d); when they were used and we did nothing, we all but invited the Russians in for the first time since they were expelled by the Egyptians over 40 years ago. Our failure to provide aid to non-ISIS groups, or to create sanctuaries for refugees in the Syrian hinterland helped spur mass death and mass migrations to Europe \u2014which may well be the straw that breaks the back of the European Union.<\/p>\n

I would not bring up \u201cpunishments\u201d for Ukraine and Crimea, which I do not think registered much with Putin. Obama\u2019s own supporters have criticized his strange passive-aggressive reset with Putin, in which after empowering him (the silly plastic reset button, cancelling missile defense with the Poles and Czechs, trashing Bush\u2019s readjustment to Putin over Ossetia, the open mic post-election promises to be \u201cflexible,\u201d the pass given years of Russian cyber attacks, the attack on Romney\u2019s warning about Putin, etc.), Obama then ridiculed Putin in puerile fashion (class cut up, into macho displays for domestic consumption). Sadly talking trash and carrying a twig is a bad combination; yet we see just that mixture again with his most recent threats to China over stealing a drone, and his promises to hit back at Putin\u2019s alleged cyber crimes. I fear they both will either laugh or cry at our braggadocio.<\/p>\n

Obama has set a precedent: you can with impunity swallow whole countries, build artificial island bases, take U.S. ships or drones, hack government agencies, but don\u2019t ever be even accused of hacking in a manner that in theory could hurt a liberal candidate\u2014this for Obama is tantamount to a cause for war.<\/p>\n

Victor D. Hanson, Ph.D.<\/p>\n

Selma CA 93662<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From An Angry Reader: Victor \u00a0Your gloating and myopic column pillorying President Obama’s foreign policy legacy was simple minded and juvenile. Why write something so stupidly one sided????? \u00a0When Obama came into office we were losing 100 service people per month in a stupid war and as he leaves office, this number is down to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-2w7","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10126,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/10126-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":9679,"position":0},"title":"From an Angry Reader: Dear\u2026","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"From an Angry Reader: Dear Continually Angry Reader Steve Faddy Hey Vic, I understand you are a historian, but please write a timely piece, maybe touching on the brilliant incoherence of the foreign policy of the Mad King Don. Obama is no longer the President. Write something relevant to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Angry Reader"","block_context":{"text":"Angry Reader","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/angry-reader\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10494,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/10494-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":9679,"position":1},"title":"Questions","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"From An Angry Reader: If you publish my letter on your website, it may best be placed in the \u201cAngry Reader\u201d category. I only agree with you 10 percent of the time, but I\u2019m not angry. You are one of the two or three best conservative commentators, in my view.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Angry Reader"","block_context":{"text":"Angry Reader","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/angry-reader\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10151,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/angry-reader-12\/","url_meta":{"origin":9679,"position":2},"title":"Angry Reader","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"From an Angry Reader: Mr. Hanson, I don\u2019t know anything about Stanley Baldwin, but I\u2019ll assume your description of him is accurate. In that case, you have to stretch quite a bit to make Obama into Baldwin. For instance: You call Baldwin a pacifist. Obama is decidedly not a pacifist.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Angry Reader"","block_context":{"text":"Angry Reader","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/angry-reader\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/angry-reader-6-responds-to-bush-reconsidered\/","url_meta":{"origin":9679,"position":3},"title":"Angry Reader #6 Responds to “Bush Reconsidered”","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Angry Reader #6 wrote: \u201cVDH Trash\u201d VDH do you actually believe\u00a0this? I have to doubt your sanity. So many examples but I think the breezy dismissal of Iraq, not mentioning torture, the health of the economy circa 2009 and the Bush tax cuts relationship to the deficits are the real\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Angry Reader"","block_context":{"text":"Angry Reader","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/angry-reader\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10117,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/10117-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":9679,"position":4},"title":"04\/24\/17 From an Angry Reader:\u2026","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"04\/24\/17 From an Angry Reader: Mr. Hanson, \u00a0As a registered Republican, I am disgusted with the behavior of President Trump and always surprised with the support he receives from people who appear to be well educated knowledgeable, and intelligent. \u00a0I would give your written opinion more credit if you did\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Angry Reader"","block_context":{"text":"Angry Reader","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/angry-reader\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":362,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/angry-reader-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":9679,"position":5},"title":"Angry Reader #3","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson Private Papers Angry Reader #3 writes: I won\u2019t take the time to deconstruct your little essay line by line but trust me, almost everything you post is pure, unadulterated, kool-aid-inspired nonsense straight from the fever-swamp of the Reich-wing disinformation echo-chamber, all of it intended to create\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Angry Reader"","block_context":{"text":"Angry Reader","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/angry-reader\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9679"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9679"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9683,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9679\/revisions\/9683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}