Right Wing
03-22-2014, 03:57 AM
War-Weariness As an Excuse
By William Kristol
Mar 24, 2014
Are Americans today war-weary? Sure. The Iraq and Afghanistan wars have been frustrating and tiring. Are Americans today unusually war-weary? No. They were wearier after the much larger and even more frustrating conflicts in Korea and Vietnam. And even though the two world wars of the last century had more satisfactory outcomes, their magnitude was such that they couldn’t help but induce a significant sense of war-weariness. And history shows that they did.
So American war-weariness isn’t new. Using it as an excuse to avoid maintaining our defenses or shouldering our responsibilities isn’t new, either. But that doesn’t make it admirable.
The March 5 Wall Street Journal featured a letter from Heidi Szrom of Valparaiso, Indiana. She was responding to an earlier letter defending President Obama’s foreign policies against a powerful critique in the Journal by the historian Niall Ferguson (“America’s Global Retreat”). The first letter writer noted Ferguson’s statement that more people may have died violent deaths in the Greater Middle East in the Obama years than under Bush, but excused Obama:
True, but it is also equally certain that fewer Americans have died violent deaths in the Greater Middle East during this presidency than during the previous one, and this is what matters more now to a war-weary American public.
To which Ms. Szrom responded:
According to pundits, the president and letter writers, America is “war weary.” Every time I hear this, I wonder: Did you serve? Did you volunteer to fight oppression in foreign lands? Did your son or brother or husband? If so, then I understand and sympathize with your complaint . . . unlike most of those who utter this shopworn phrase
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/boots-ground-yes_785685.html#
Well, I know the author of the Weekly Standard article, William Kristol, didn't serve. He beats the biggest war drum, but he was a chicken hawk when it was his turn. He was 19 years old in 1971 while the war in Vietnam was still full throttle. You may wonder why he didn't serve. Well, he said he was a little young, while conversing on the air with Stephen Colbert. Colbert cited Kristol was old enough and he responded with nervous laughter.
It also seems I have read this op-ed by Kristol a while ago, although this is dated March 2014, but I am not sure. Could he have just taken one of his old op-ed pieces and reposted? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I thought if he were to be a brave warrior from behind his own keyboard advocating others to go off and shed their blood and condemning the war weary, I just thought he would at least take the time to type another article.
I respect you for your service. I just have a big problem with people like Kristol sitting behind a keyboard with no skin in the game beating the drums for war and condemning others for beign war weary, while he avoided service and avoided combat.
By William Kristol
Mar 24, 2014
Are Americans today war-weary? Sure. The Iraq and Afghanistan wars have been frustrating and tiring. Are Americans today unusually war-weary? No. They were wearier after the much larger and even more frustrating conflicts in Korea and Vietnam. And even though the two world wars of the last century had more satisfactory outcomes, their magnitude was such that they couldn’t help but induce a significant sense of war-weariness. And history shows that they did.
So American war-weariness isn’t new. Using it as an excuse to avoid maintaining our defenses or shouldering our responsibilities isn’t new, either. But that doesn’t make it admirable.
The March 5 Wall Street Journal featured a letter from Heidi Szrom of Valparaiso, Indiana. She was responding to an earlier letter defending President Obama’s foreign policies against a powerful critique in the Journal by the historian Niall Ferguson (“America’s Global Retreat”). The first letter writer noted Ferguson’s statement that more people may have died violent deaths in the Greater Middle East in the Obama years than under Bush, but excused Obama:
True, but it is also equally certain that fewer Americans have died violent deaths in the Greater Middle East during this presidency than during the previous one, and this is what matters more now to a war-weary American public.
To which Ms. Szrom responded:
According to pundits, the president and letter writers, America is “war weary.” Every time I hear this, I wonder: Did you serve? Did you volunteer to fight oppression in foreign lands? Did your son or brother or husband? If so, then I understand and sympathize with your complaint . . . unlike most of those who utter this shopworn phrase
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/boots-ground-yes_785685.html#
Well, I know the author of the Weekly Standard article, William Kristol, didn't serve. He beats the biggest war drum, but he was a chicken hawk when it was his turn. He was 19 years old in 1971 while the war in Vietnam was still full throttle. You may wonder why he didn't serve. Well, he said he was a little young, while conversing on the air with Stephen Colbert. Colbert cited Kristol was old enough and he responded with nervous laughter.
It also seems I have read this op-ed by Kristol a while ago, although this is dated March 2014, but I am not sure. Could he have just taken one of his old op-ed pieces and reposted? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I thought if he were to be a brave warrior from behind his own keyboard advocating others to go off and shed their blood and condemning the war weary, I just thought he would at least take the time to type another article.
I respect you for your service. I just have a big problem with people like Kristol sitting behind a keyboard with no skin in the game beating the drums for war and condemning others for beign war weary, while he avoided service and avoided combat.