Wednesday, September 22, 2010
REVISING HISTORY
I absorbed the "standard model" of the history of conflict in Vietnam in my youth: the US and, before the US, France, fought a war against national self-determination that was always doomed to failure and that had the result of bringing a communist dictatorship to power. I recently noted here that sources are certainly available that challenge that view in relation to the US war in Vietnam -- for instance, with regard to the military reality of the Tet Offensive of 1968. Last night I read this extremely detailed and well-written article about an event that always serves as a "prologue" to the standard model of pre-fated US military failure, the story of the French defense of Dien Bien Phu. If you're interested in military history, this is an engrossing piece. Even more important, if you're interested in trying to see how the "standard model" came to be defined and how it requires at least bending some pesky facts, taking this second look at Dien Bien Phu is definitely worth the time.
GB, THHotA
posted by Greg 5:37 AM
Sunday, September 19, 2010
CRIPPLED GIANT
I feel sorry for the people who are ultimately responsible for making the policies that drive US defense spending ... if there are any. Tens and hundreds of billions of dollars get spent on programs that begin with enthusiasm over seemingly great ideas, but that then drag on and on and on without producing decent results. Here's a note from one of the best outside naval analysts about the waste that has gone into spending on US military shipbuilding. On that Navy side, that's the tip of the iceberg. Consider the LCS program. LCS is a fantastic idea for a new class of smaller, highly-flexible warship that can operate effectively in the increasingly hazardous near-shore environment, but still be a meaningful part of the traditional "blue water" fleet. The program's been running for eight years, billions have been spent, and we still only have two prototypes and no clear decision about ultimate acquisition and deployment. Meanwhile, looming over the whole realm of naval spending is the question of the long-term fate of the centerpiece of American military global power, the aircraft carrier battle group. Everyone knows that fundamental re-thinking of the carrier battle group concept is in order, but the institutional and financial inertia involved in the concept of the super-carrier seems to be impervious to critical policy-making.
Then there's the on-going gusher of money that is the F-35 all-things-to-all-people Joint Strike Fighter. The Senate Armed Services Committee keeps threatening to cut funding for the program if it doesn't "get back on track," whatever that means. As I've written before, in hindsight, it seems to me that the decision to end production of the incredibly capable air superiority fighter, the F-22, in favor of the so-called Swiss Army Knife F-35 may well have been exactly the wrong thing to do. As I and many others have said, if you don't control the skies, a twitchy stealth attack-fighter like the F-35 isn't going to be able to get the job done all by itself.
All of this is taking place in the over-all environment of necessarily shrinking military budgets as our economy continues to implode. I sure as hell hope there's some good stuff out there in the high desert that can provide a deus ex machina to get us out of this mess. Because if there's not, we're going to be a truly crippled giant in a few years ...
GB, THHotA
posted by Greg 5:53 AM
Saturday, September 11, 2010
9 1 1
NEVER FORGET
GB THHotA
posted by Greg 3:52 PM
Friday, September 10, 2010
PIGS IN SPACE
NASA; pork. But I repeat myself ...
GB, THHotA
posted by Greg 10:06 AM
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE ...
One more way it's just like 1929.
GB, THHotA
posted by Greg 5:40 AM
Saturday, September 04, 2010
CROSS-CURRENTS
A sign of the times. Der Spiegel ("center-left" by German standards, far left by US standards) gives us a short, pointed essay by a German academic economist to the effect that the US risks destruction by embracing European-style socialism. Meanwhile, The Nation, (far left by US standards, barely center-left by European standards) offers this darkly humorous and well-written piece on "the death of capitalism" by a Marxist who knows his Marx.
Both are well worth reading.
GB, THHotA
posted by Greg 8:06 AM
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
LINK DUMP
[It appears I'm blogging again ... ]
- Director John Woo is going to make a film about the Flying Tigers. It would be difficult to imagine a movie project more calculated to appeal to me.
- For reasons not worth explaining, I went looking for a citation to the interview with Bui Tin, the senior North Vietnamese army officer who, after becoming disillusioned with the brutality of the victorious communists, defected to live in France and wrote a memoir (in French, unfortunately). I wanted to refresh my memory about his clear statement that 1) the Tet Offensive was a disastrous military loss for the communists that was 2) turned into a spectacular political victory through the workings of the anti-war left in America. If you've never seen this brief text, you should take five minutes to click the link and read it. If you subscribe to the established, orthodox view of the history of America's war in Vietnam, the interview with Bui Tin's should be the door that leads out from that place. While you're at it, you might want to check out this longer memoir by a press correspondent who worked in Vietnam in those years, who has come to regret the echo-chamber of anti-Americanism that defined the narrative upon which the now-orthodox view is based.
- Speaking of opposing narratives, here's the beginning of a multi-part piece about how the culture war over school curriculum is destroying education in America.
GB, THHotA
posted by Greg 5:29 AM
|
|
