{"id":3739,"date":"2003-04-03T15:48:32","date_gmt":"2003-04-03T20:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/?p=3739"},"modified":"2003-04-03T15:48:32","modified_gmt":"2003-04-03T20:48:32","slug":"perspective_11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/04\/03\/perspective_11.html","title":{"rendered":"Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wow<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This war is an abject and utter failure. What everyone thought would be a quick, decisive victory has turned into an embarrassing series of reversals. The enemy — a ragtag, badly-fed collection of hotheads and fanatics — has failed to be shocked and awed by the most magnificent military machine ever fielded. Their dogged resistance has shown us the futility of the idea that a nation of millions could ever be subjugated and administered, no matter what obscene price we are willing to pay in blood and money.
\nThe President of the United States is a buffoon, an idiot, a man barely able to speak the English language. His vice president is a little-seen, widely despised enigma and his chief military advisor a wild-eyed warmonger. Only his Secretary of State offers any hope of redemption, for he at least is a reasonable, well-educated man, a man most thought would have made a far, far better choice for Chief Executive.
\nWe must face the fact that we had no business forcing this unjust war on a people who simply want to be left alone. It has damaged our international relationships beyond any measure, and has proven to be illegal, immoral and nothing less than a monumental mistake that will take generations to rectify. We can never hope to subdue and remake an entire nation of millions. All we will do is alienate them further. So we must bring this war to an immediate end, and make a solemn promise to history that we will never launch another war of aggression and preemption again, so help us God.
\nSo spoke the American press. The time was the summer of 1864.<\/i><\/p>\n

Bill Whittle’s essay is long, and it jinks and jags around to touch on a number of points. But it is terribly worth reading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wow. This war is an abject and utter failure. What everyone thought would be a quick, decisive victory has turned into an embarrassing series of reversals. The enemy — a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geopolitical-brouhaha"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49813,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/03\/12\/lindsey-graham-is-sounding-a-little-coup-coup.html","url_meta":{"origin":3739,"position":0},"title":"Lindsey Graham is sounding a little coup-coup","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 12-Mar-15 6:00am","format":false,"excerpt":"Surely he was joking, right? Obviously, of course.One has to wonder what Sen. Graham's reaction would be if, oh, President Obama \"joked\" about calling up the military to force Congress to reverse budget cuts on his favorite programs.I would say there are some jokes a high government official shouldn't make.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":135930,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/03\/10\/trump-finds-clever-way-make-military-parade-not.html","url_meta":{"origin":3739,"position":1},"title":"Trump finds clever way to make his military parade not be all about him","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 10-Mar-18 12:34pm","format":false,"excerpt":"He's going to do it on Veterans Day, so he can claim it's all about the veterans. But it's not. It's all about him. Expect to hear continued presidential pouting that the multi-milllion dollar paean to The Greatest President Ever will not include any tanks. Trump's Military Parade Is Set\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/unnamed.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":133222,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/04\/06\/the-fiscally-conservative-except-for-military-spending-president.html","url_meta":{"origin":3739,"position":2},"title":"The "Fiscally Conservative Except For Military Spending" President","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 6-Apr-17 10:24pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The attached article says about 70 Tomahawk missiles were lobbed at Syria. The reports I saw said more like 50 [2]. Charitably attributing the lower number, that was an expense of between $25 million and $75 million.I'll note that the EPA programs around preventing lead paint exposure to children and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":135620,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/12\/12\/us-military-will-enlist-transgender-people-1-january.html","url_meta":{"origin":3739,"position":3},"title":"The US military will enlist transgender people as of 1 January","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 12-Dec-17 3:56pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A third federal court has ruled there was no justifiable basis for the Pentagon to deny such enlistment, despite Trump's orders to do so. Equal protection under the law -- a Constitutional provision -- means the law cannot treat people differently without a compelling reason. None has been presented as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/unnamed-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12524,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/04\/02\/bug_as_thou_wilt_too.html","url_meta":{"origin":3739,"position":4},"title":"Bug as thou wilt, too","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 2-Apr-08 3:26pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, not only did the DoJ claim it was okay to torture folks if the President said to do it, someone at the EFF spotted a footnote in the original...","rel":"","context":"In "Homeland Security"","block_context":{"text":"Homeland Security","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/homeland-security"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":134748,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/09\/18\/course-donald-trump-wants-military-parade-4th-july.html","url_meta":{"origin":3739,"position":5},"title":"Because OF COURSE Donald Trump wants a military parade on the 4th of July","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 18-Sep-17 3:43pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I mean, if the Russians (and even the French!) do it, why wouldn't Donald want to have a big military parade of his very own? Imagine, all the tanks, and soldiers, and missile carriers, and APCs, and jeeps, and more soldiers, and everyone saluting him at the review stand. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/unnamed-23.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3739\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}