JB isn’t exactly a classicist… or logician:
Dear Mr. Libertine:
Iraq was not neutral. They were allies of the USSR ever since Sodom Insane took over the place. The USSR was the prime supporter of raghead terrorism during the last 40 years. I’m surprised you didn’t know that. You can go back to sucking your Libertine Donkey dicks now.
KD fails to grok as well:
I have not read any of Victor David Hanson’s books, but I am a fan of his from regular appearances on Hugh Hewitt’s show. In found your review interesting but must take two issues with your closing paragraphs 1) Bush would never change sides in the war, but if a Democrat is elected in 2008, the presidency will. 2) Iraq was not, of course, democratic, nor was it neutral, so the invasion of Sicily does not apply.
Let’s review. The exact sentence from VDH was: “In the last analysis, one does not defeat the proximate oligarchic enemy by sailing 800 miles distant to attack a democratic neutral.”
The Pelopponesian War was no more fought over democracy than the Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism. Iraq, like the USA, was a secular state, not a jihadist one, and it was certainly neutral with regards to the global jihad. Iraq had ties to terrorism, to be sure, but so does the USA – just where do you think all that money that went to the Palestinian Authority ended up? And do remember just who was sitting outside the Oval Office when Monica was performing her namesake function.
I’m guessing that the mention of historic democracy that is confusing people. But democracy does not equal democracy in the analogy. If you can surmount this bit of potential confusion, you will see that the Athenian war against Syracuse was actually pursued for very similar reasons now used to defend the Iraqi Occupation. Athenian hawks even argued that if the Spartans made common cause with the Syracusans, the rich grainfields of Sicily would seriously impeded the Athenian war effort. The analogy runs thusly:
Athens = America
Pelopponesian League = Global Jihad
Syracuse = Iraq
Oligarchic = Religious
Democratic = Secular
Grain = Oil
One might rewrite the sentence like so: “In the last analysis, one does not defeat the proximate religious enemy by flying to the Middle East to attack a secular neutral.”
And no, this was not a sign that I’m running out of ideas. Quite the contrary, it was an opportunity to bring an innovative and well-written book to my readers’ attention plus develop further some thoughts I’ve been having about the intermediate term fate of America. As for ideas, some would rightly shudder at some column concepts I’ve been having. And there were those who thought Ron Mexico was out there….