Comments on: A year later http://www.dinocrat.com/archives/2008/01/29/a-year-later/ Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:04:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: gs http://www.dinocrat.com/archives/2008/01/29/a-year-later/#comment-302353 gs Wed, 30 Jan 2008 01:27:56 +0000 http://www.dinocrat.com/archives/2008/01/29/a-year-later/#comment-302353 On second thought after my <a href="http://www.dinocrat.com/archives/2008/01/29/a-year-later/#comment-302352" rel="nofollow">previous</a> comment: <i>This is the guy who took the carrier-landing victory lap in front of the whole world–for winning the first round of the first battle in the war.</i> Iraq is the second battle of the war. Afghanistan is the first. <i>A victory, even a pyrrhic one, is preferable to a ruinous defeat.</i> Usually but not always: if it makes you overconfident... On second thought after my previous comment:

This is the guy who took the carrier-landing victory lap in front of the whole world–for winning the first round of the first battle in the war.

Iraq is the second battle of the war. Afghanistan is the first.

A victory, even a pyrrhic one, is preferable to a ruinous defeat.

Usually but not always: if it makes you overconfident…

]]> By: gs http://www.dinocrat.com/archives/2008/01/29/a-year-later/#comment-302352 gs Wed, 30 Jan 2008 01:18:28 +0000 http://www.dinocrat.com/archives/2008/01/29/a-year-later/#comment-302352 Jack, currently the post links to the 2003 SOTU. This year's speech is <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/01/20080128-13.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>. <i>In a year’s time, the President has changed from being beleaguered by Iraq to something quite different. The President’s relaxed and jovial demeanor was telling: this guy believes we won the war.</i> This is the guy who took the carrier-landing victory lap in front of the whole world--for winning the first round of the first battle in the war. Do the leaderships of Iran and North Korea--and Arabia, Pakistan, Syria, <i>et al</i>--believe we won the war? If so, when will compelling evidence emerge? ********** It's not clear to me whether our interventions in Vietnam and Iraq were strategically correct. Even so, losing as we did in Vietnam compounded the (possible) top-level misjudgment. A victory, even a pyrrhic one, is preferable to a ruinous defeat. Jack, currently the post links to the 2003 SOTU. This year’s speech is here.

In a year’s time, the President has changed from being beleaguered by Iraq to something quite different. The President’s relaxed and jovial demeanor was telling: this guy believes we won the war.

This is the guy who took the carrier-landing victory lap in front of the whole world–for winning the first round of the first battle in the war. Do the leaderships of Iran and North Korea–and Arabia, Pakistan, Syria, et al–believe we won the war? If so, when will compelling evidence emerge?
**********
It’s not clear to me whether our interventions in Vietnam and Iraq were strategically correct. Even so, losing as we did in Vietnam compounded the (possible) top-level misjudgment. A victory, even a pyrrhic one, is preferable to a ruinous defeat.

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