Between War and Peace: Lessons from Afghanistan to Iraq (ISBN 0812972732)

Problematic and argumentative:
I think I'm gettting to the saturation point with Victor Davis Hanson. He's intelligent, and he makes his points well with regards to the war and those who oppose it, but he's somewhat more argumentative than seems reasonable, at times, and his predictions aren't always on the mark. In this series of essays, written in the lead-up to and the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq a few years ago. The essays this time are more straightforward than in An Autumn of War, where some of them were somewhat more humorous or at least oblique than here: these are rather confrontational editorials insisting that President Bush is doing right in attacking Iraq and removing Saddam Hussein from power. Like most essay collections, this one has weaknesses. In Hanson's case, the largest problem is that he tends to repeat his arguments here, because many of the editorials are making the same points over and over again. After a while the repetition gets to be a bit tiring. While sometimes the points themselves make some sense, it's a bit jarring to read something at this point repeatedly stating confidently that Weapons of Mass Destruction will certainly be found in Iraq. I would imagine that opponents of President Bush (and Hanson) will focus on this and insist that it makes his arguments that much weaker. I enjoyed this book at some level, but at times it took a while to get through the various editorials. Recommended for those interested in the subject.

Modern History of the War on Terror:
This is a strange, but ultimately good, book in two ways: First it is not so much a single book but a collection of essays arranged into topics and then arranged chronologically within each topic, and second it is a work of modern history and thus lacks the 20/20 vision of hindsight. This second quality however is what makes it so interesting, especially the further we get away from the time when each essay was written. Hanson is a classics scholar and an outstandingly good military historian who views the world through a Thucydidean paradigm, namely, human nature is the same throughout all time and anything we're experiencing has basically been seen before in the history of warfare. This gives him a perspective unique from most of the scholars and pundits we see or hear on TV, as he makes frequent and salient comparison with modern events to similar events in ancient Greece. The main argument of this book is that America and the West are not at fault for Arab and Islamic terrorism -their own internal forces cause terrorism-, that we must fight terrorism with resolve, and that we may only be victorious if we belive in our cause, and may only be defeated if we doubt ourselves. Unfortunately he showcases just how much Westerners, particularly the Left, do doubt oursevles and our civilization, and how this makes us vulnerable to the tactics of the terrorists. Hanson tackles a lot of issues with a harsh clarity of thought and unapologetic conclusions, including: Anti-Americanism, Who are friends really are and who are enemies really are and why we don't treat them as such, The amount of duplicity and irrelevant -if not dangerous- ritual and senseless tradition in how we conduct our foreign policy and how we should do it differently, the military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and similar such topics. He has some very interesting prescriptions for reshaping the American military and re-directing our foreign policy. Yet even should we follow his suggestions it seems implicit that so long as there is so much self-loathing and reluctance for the West to act in any manner the Left sees as slightly objectionable we are still doomed to never truly defeating terrorism, since defeat and victory are more intangible mental states than tangible physical realities. Being a work of modern history however the book is replete with predictions that have failed to come true (as well as many that have), showing the difficulty of making sense of a situation in real-time, the effects a paradigm have on what you believe the situation is and what will happen, and the limits of a thorough knowledge of history. In the end you have to act however, in spite of the knowledge that you don't know what the consequences of your actions will be. Hanson is a historian unafraid to make decisions about what should be done, and by publishing his essays in a book format like this he shows he is also unafraid of exposing when events ultimately prove him wrong. An admirable trait in a world so enamored with self-image, delaying any decision or action with the blanket excuse of trying to add nuance, and rationalizing away any dirty laundry.

a necessary fellow and imperative book:
It's odd that a compilation of essays written 4-5 years ago can still be so relevant with such powerful meaning. Enter VDH, and perhaps as a surprise to Eurabia and the American Left, enter the post 9-11 world. Logical to the extreme, incredibly worded, accurate and essential, "Between War & Peace" should be required reading for every American college student----so don't hold your breath as the lefty fascists of academia will never allow such. The negative reviewers, as always, like Josh, didn't read the book. Thus, like typical ignorant hatemongers, they have no clue and spew nonsense. We need MANY more folks like VDH, especially in academia. Military History, instead as part of a Cultural Marxist plan, is being phased out of colleges. Typical. War is hell. Despite what the idiots on the left say, no one inherently likes war, but they are often necessary and keep pompous fools like Joshy safe and sound to live the wonderful, fre life America provides. Maybe someday they'll understand. Doubtful, though. Global Warming is more of his kind of faux battle.

Barbarian With A Big Vocabulary:
I define a barbarian as one who believes war is the answer and war is the solution. Individuals like V.H.D. are nothing more than intelectual, university insulated, souless cheer-leaders for war. This book is simply a Ra! Ra! for war. Victor loves war, this war, past war, any war America has ever or will ever be in (except humanitarian uses of the military, those he staunchly opposes). If you like the Iraq war, support the Iraq war, then you will love V.H.D., in short, you are a barbarian.

Timeless Lessons for Today:
A series of articles written in the early `00s, one might be tempted to think the pieces in BETWEEN WAR AND PEACE have been rendered outdated by subsequent events in Iraq and Afghanistan. That would, however, be reading the book too narrowly. Victor Davis Hanson, whatever you may think of his policy suggestions, is a well respected military historian who has taught at some of the U.S.' premiere universities, including the Naval Academy. Although the essays relate to this nation's present struggles, it approaches those struggles from the perspective of a long, long history. That is what makes the book worthwhile. Yes, reading these essays today, it is easy to nitpick where VDH got it wrong. Like many commentators, he was right about the facility with which the American military took out Saddam Hussein, but missed the mark as to the difficult nature of the Islamic insurgency attempting to thwart the establishment of democratic values. And he seemed to underestimate just how far into the national psyche the raw sewage of pessimistic anti-Americanism, originating within the academy and broadcast to us via the media, would creep. I suppose some degree of realism prevents one from really recognizing, not how badly the elites want America to fail, but just how tenaciously they will try to achieve that failure through the fomentation of cultural and political decay. Yet for the misses, there are more hits, broader in scope and of more lasting importance. VDH's analysis of European anti-Americanism and hypocrisy produces those `a-ha' moments, in which someone else puts into words that which you kind of knew but could not really articulate. The U.S. does, in fact, need to seriously re-evaluate its relationship with a culturally decayed Europe, remove its military bases there, and establish closer ties to those nations whose values more closely parallel our own. "Polite friendship - but no alliances," is a solid guide for whatever administration is soon to be elected and VDH's projections of America's best path forward, making U.S. power more flexible, would likely make us both more effective in reaching our goals while also removing the excuses for the petty resentments that so many others around the globe feel towards us, often as a way to evade their own problems. VDH's take on the Middle East, and his moral support of Israel, is indeed a breath of fresh air compared to the nauseating anti-Semitism or, slightly more or less pathetic depending on one's perspective, the moral equivalency all to frequently heard from so-called intellectuals. The issues playing out in the Middle Eastern stage are the same ones Americans now face, they are just more easily recognizable due to the proximity of the actors. Again, VDH is a military historian of some note. That makes this book more than just a period piece. In fact, I found this book not in the current events section of the bookstore, but in the history section. There is a reason for that. VDH brings history to the present and applies it to modern day conflicts. That approach will make BETWEEN WAR AND PEACE valuable long after the current struggles are over and won.