Victor Davis Hanson
We don't hear all that much about
The war at one point almost tore apart this country. Public anger sent
But
So, why the silence?
In short, Americans are not dying in
Perceptions of the war in
"No blood for oil," for example, was once a common anti-war cry. But
The U.S., it turned out, did not go to
Then there is
Yet this year, a million Iranians went out in the streets to demand free and fair elections of the sort they hear constantly about across their border. In other words, perhaps the democratic experiment in
Here at home, the portrayal of the two wars we're engaged in is just as topsy-turvy. When fewer than 100 Americans were dying each year in
But in 2009,
In turn, the politics flipped as well.
Once upon a time, presidential candidate
But under the present reversed conditions, President Obama apparently has followed the Bush-Petraeus plan of incremental withdrawal from
As a result, the leftwing loyalists who helped elect Obama on his anti-war credentials are now furious at the Nobel Peace Laureate for sending any additional troops to
The media coverage of
Many in the media (not to mention
Now, though, we hear all kinds of concern that Gen.
What are we to make of all these flip-flops?
And when wars break out, no one ever quite knows how things will finally end up.
On Foreign Policy Front Consider Obama Lucky So Far
Ian Bremmer
Barack Obama has had an exceptionally lucky first year. All newly elected U.S. presidents arrive in office hoping to avoid the unforeseen foreign-policy crises that upend their domestic agendas. President Obama has avoided the foreign-policy blowups that push an administration off balance. His luck isn't likely to last. Here's why ...
(C) 2009 Victor Davis Hanson