Military Affairs
I know that the resignation of a combatant commander who has publicly challenged the policies of his commander-in-chief is not nearly as riveting as the resignation of an arrogant, self-righteous, nanny-state Democratic governor who seeks out sex with prostitutes, but in the greater scheme of things, the former story is more consequential. On Tuesday, Admiral…
Senator Jack Reed is in Iraq assessing the situation. While revising his earlier view of the surge strategy — too small and too gradual to work, he said when Mr. Bush proposed it last January — Reed said he stands by his prescription for the path ahead in Iraq: a U.S. declaration of policy that…
In the Washington Post, John Podesta, Lawrence J. Korb and Brian Katulis make a case against the success of the American military surge in Iraq that includes this sentence (h/t Mickey Kaus)…But the progress being made at the local level often undermines the stated goal of creating a unified, stable, democratic Iraq.Isn’t this the liberal…
I apologize for a paucity of posts lately. Of course, some people might think that fewer things by me is not such a bad thing. In any event, my light posting has to do with the old adage about alligators and draining the swamp. Today is, of course, Veterans Day. I have a piece on…
In discussing an Ohio proposal to exempt military pensions from the state income tax, the Toledo Blade names Rhode Island as one of only five states imposing an income tax on military pensions…With one of its members now on military duty and another about to return to Iraq, [the Ohio House] suddenly fast-tracked a proposal…
I heard a story on NPR this morning about the trial of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich–a leader of the Marine squad accused of killing 24 civilians in Haditha a year and a half ago. (NPR also included multiple excerpts from an interview that Wuterich gave to CBS’ Scott Pelly—here‘s the text version of the NPR…
“Sophisticated” writers and policiticans continue to criticize the president’s invocation of Vietnam during a speech last week before the VFW. As everyone knows, he argued that a premature withdrawal from Iraq would lead to the same sort of bloodbath as ocurred in Vietnam after the US Congress perpetrated the most shameful act in American history–literally…
The president has taken a lot of heat for his reference to Vietnam in yesterday’s speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. it appears to be the case that he is the only person in the United States who is not permitted to refer to Vietnam when speaking about Iraq. My take on the reaction…
I had a chance to hear a portion of Dan Yorke’s interview with Congressman Jim Langevin yesterday afternoon. When asked about Iraq, Rep. Langevin continued to trumpet the line that things are getting worse in Iraq and that the “surge” won’t work. They’ve already made up their minds and this unwillingness to reassess the situation…
While recovering from surgery recently, I had the good fortune to read a fine new book about political dissent in the North during the Civil War. The book, Copperheads: The Rise an Fall of Lincoln’s Opponents in the North, by journalist-turned-academic-historian Jennifer Weber, shines the spotlight on the “Peace Democrats,” who did everything they could…
