Bands played, children sang, millions of Iraqis turned out to vote, and the whole world hailed Iraq's election as an historic epiphany. Success in the voting process means that Iraq will emerge as a peaceful, democratic state. America has won its war. Sorry, but I...
The Dangers of Abstract Nationalism
Serious conservatives, men such as Scott McConnell of The American Conservative and economist Paul Craig Roberts, along with such eminent libertarians as Justin Raimondo of Antiwar.com and Lew Rockwell, are raising a surprising question: do the war in Iraq and the...
Coming Unglued
As I pondered what theme would be appropriate for this 100th "On War," one of Col. John Boyd's favorite phrases popped into my mind: "coming unglued." As the column's primary purpose is to view events through the prism of Fourth Generation war, and...
The Century of the Believers
In the 18th century, Goethe's romantic novel The Sorrows of Young Werther led than more than one "sensible" young gentleman to emulate the protagonist and kill himself. I hope a happier end awaits Old Werther, the northern Virginia defense analyst who writes under...
Fallujah: Little Stalingrad
According to people who have been there, Fallujah is not a very big city. You can walk across it in half an hour. Yet when the history of this miserable war is written, I suspect it may loom large. Like Stalingrad, it will mark the point where the war turned against...
Fallujah: Little Stalingrad
According to people who have been there, Fallujah is not a very big city. You can walk across it in half an hour. Yet when the history of this miserable war is written, I suspect it may loom large. Like Stalingrad, it will mark the point where the war turned against...
Last Exit Before Gas
Between now and January, the Bush administration will have to decide whether or not to take the last dignified exit from Iraq. That is, to announce before the Iraqi elections that we will be leaving soon after them. If Bush and his neocon handlers miss this...
Toward a Defensive Approach to National Defense
If there is one point on which all of America's leaders, civilian and military, seem to agree, it is that the United States must remain on the offensive in the misnamed "War on Terrorism." The offensive is the only form of war that offers hope for a decisive...
The Grand Illusion
When asked for their solution to the mess in Iraq, both of America's presidential candidates – Tweedledumb and Tweedlephony – advance the same line: "train more Iraqi security forces." Once enough Iraqis have been trained, they suggest, American...
Destroying the National Guard
The unit knew it would soon be shipped to the front. Some soldiers responded by deserting. Others got drunk and fought. In response, officers locked the unit in its barracks, allowing the troops out only to drill, not even to smoke a cigarette, until it could be put...