Victor Davis Hanson - Is the "War on Terror" Really a War?

[AimeeViolette]

Al Qaeda does not exist. They are nothing but a bogey man created by the CIA.

Osama is dead.

Benazir Bhutto admitted this without any hesitation. She did not misspeak.

This is why she was murdered.

[pretorious700]

@AimeeViolette Simply and beautifully put. And also true.

[caporalchef4]

It' not the Weremark, it is the Wehrmacht, the German Armed Forces under the Third Reich.

[msminxy75]

In the United States "Freedom= Resources". Americans are as brainwashed as nazis. The US has hosted more crimes against humanity than any other countries added together. US is a young country just hitting puberty and it needs to be grounded! Helping women be free in middle east? shooting a 5 year old muslim in the head then american soldiers gang raping her 14 year old sister over her dead body, dont get more liberating than that. Dont worry 1 guy was charged for it :/

[nakedhands]

@msminxy75 Hate the USA but your on their internet they started,on their you tube and on their computers they invented and enjoying freedom as a result of their sacrifice.You sound like a petulant teenager unable to grasp were you get everything that you can`t live without.Who do you love tibetan killing chinese,chechen killing russians,arab killing shites/ sunni or african killing african,or maybe eurocentric colonialism.What pure race do you indentify with thats done no wrong mscritical.

[msminxy75]

@nakedhands When was the last time you worked female victims? Some from war torn countries? Me, yesterday. I do not hate my home, your life of over consumption will come to an end, you will see that everything you knew as 'freedom' was a farce (perhaps when we lose the world reserve currency). I did not imply against technology, although that reroute the subject quickly. No one people in war have been exempt of war crimes, however I believe we were talking about the US, hence the video... 

[Frankcastle522]

VDH is awesome. I love this mans logic his idea is so overly thorough.

[0HippyHunter0]

We are fighting an enemy that is in a religious war, we on the other hand are not.

[bigz008]

Ask you're self this: What has the muslim world gained from all of this? Nothing.

[0HippyHunter0]

@bigz008 People are often decieved about what is in their self interest; especially uneducated, religiously indoctrinated people.

[Frankcastle522]

@0HippyHunter0 Self intrest is a thing most commonly ignored. Group think whatever that may be destroys logic, that is why true democracy was seen by the Greeks as a form of logic because it gave the individual the idea to choose.

[katsarak]

is the 'war on terror' not the strongest assertion yet of state authority? are we not witnessing now the unheard-of mobilization of all (repressive and ideological) state apparatuses?

[marklar74]

liberalism is a mental disorder. period. libs, spout away!! let the horseshit fly!!!

[Pisces31660]

that's a classic example of "projection" it' is the right wing that has shown it'self to be delusional. (fixed belief system in the absence of evidence) but why ruin a perfectly good myth be ruined by fact.

[Sage80]

great argument. Im sure Hanson is in hiding from your impregnable logic.

[jakefree25]

Sounds like Michael Savage projecting his insanity on anyone who won't live in his air castle

[lallope]

We have become the world cops. We have created a monster Frankenstein and we don't know now how to kill the un-kill-able monster. Those were the dumbest terrorist in history of man when if they had hit 3 mile island. Ever since Sirhan Sirhan, Muslim nuts became the hidden boogieman, after Iranian revolution it became an absolute. We created the Taliban and should remember this.

[VailPatriot]

@lallope: America has long been stuck between a rock and the proverbial hard place; we are damned if we do anything, and damned if we do nothing. No matter what our decision some shithead someplace will take offense. America has done more in all of history to bring liberty, prosperity and hope to the world. Why else would so many people the world-over risk their lives and leave their homes, their families, to come here?

[jakefree25]

"War on Terror" is a silly, open ended nonsense term. What we have, or need, is a war against Islamic fundamentalists, or jihaders. That is like a war on defense or a war on retreat or a war on assault, terror is just a tactic. Trouble is the jihadists weren't at first in Iraq.

[Pisces31660]

@jakefree25 i agree!!

[l3lip]

@jakefree25

Yes, but political correctness comes into play and we all know how offended religious demagogues get when you trespass on their consecrated grounds - political cartoons sound familiar?

[28g34ajbsd]

What bullshit. Because one may happen to feel that the term "war on terror" - and the implications and the consequences arising from it - is retarded, and does not conform to that bullshit frame of war, does not mean one does not think there is a war, or that it is not relevant - yet Hanson, by simply repeating it ad nauseaum creates a tautology. But how you frame the war has, in point of fact, always had bigger overall effects than any individual action conducted as operation of war. Moron.

[odisseoblack]

Hanson è un grande studioso ma non capisco la sua identificazione di Atene con gli USA, personalmente trovo molto più forti le somiglianze fra Roma e gli USA.

Hanson is great, but I don't undestand why in his opinion classic Athene is similar to USA, while, according to me, Ancient Rome is too much similar to USA.

[Jujuman2003]

Victor Davis Hanson is a rightwing hack, not a serious scholar of any kind. All his opinions are stupid and written to be believed by stupid, ignorant conservatives. You can't take any he writes with any sort of confidence since he sees the world filtered through bullshit rightwing ideology. Case in point: Hanson's the only guy I've read who says Obama will lose to McCain 18 to 520 votes!

[regelemihai]

He is a distinguished professor of classics, an honorary member of the Hoover institute, and a first rank historian.

[regelemihai]

Sorry sport, throwing a bunch of half-baked insults and logans (the usual "he's a right wing loon" always amuses me) in hope of intimidating others won't do. Ad hominems are a sign of weakness and incompetance.

Bring forth real arguments because generalizing on his qualities when I doubt you have ever read his schoalrly work is sheepish.

Also as to your remark about his credentials. You consider getting a Ph.D from Stanford something of a second-rate accomplishment? Where do you go?

[Jujuman2003]

If you like him so much, tell me why he said Obama was going to lose to McCain 18 to 520 electoral votes? TELL ME THIS. This is not an opnion of a serious scholar but a crazy ideologue.

[regelemihai]

It's a freaking election prediction, what difference does it make? This is what you base your remarks on? How does it have anything to do with his credentials, historical knowledge, let alone with what he said in this clip?

[Jujuman2003]

It has everything to do with Hanson's "credentials." Nobody unbiased could possibly believe McCain would win 520 electoral votes. Yet Hanson did and stated repeatedly in his pre-election columns in National Review.

If a serious scholar is someone who weighs the facts impartially, Hanson is far removed from a scholar. Hanson is just a butt boy for the Republican party, and if you praise Hanson, you're a butt boy too. So bend over, butt boy, and take it like the conservative douche you are!

[regelemihai]

Again Sparky, callinng him or me names is the cheapest escape route you can take. You think it makes up for a real argument, but it doesn't; it just makes you seem desperate and a little pathetic.

His predictions have nothing to do with his what he is as a scholar.

Read his book about the Peloponnesian war and see if yuo can find anything that puts his credibility into question.

Tackling an insignificant conundrum is a weak tactic.

[Jujuman2003]

If he could so misread modern-day reality as to advance a certifiably insane opinion that McCain would beat Obama 520 to 18 electoral votes, I have no confidence in his ability to see the ancient world any more clearly.

Hanson's a shameless, stupid hack, like all conservative "intellectuals." He's Joseph Goebbels with less hair, and under that bald-ass head of his, brains.

[regelemihai]

Yeah yeah yeah...

So you didn't read any of his critiques, historical compendiums, but you do have the collosal hybris of calling him out and labelling him a hack. This doesn't make you look good. Plus, like I said before, attacking his physical appearence and charcater is one of the most basic logical fallacies. Someone needs to take a basic Phil. 101.

Stop suckling on the leftist propaganda tit and maybe you'll consider reading some *real* scholarship--the kind that Hanson writes ;)

[regelemihai]

*hubris

[Jujuman2003]

Maybe if I read the so-called real scholarship, I can acquire the intellectual depth one must have in writing McCain would beat Obama 520 to 18 electoral votes. But by sucking on the "leftist propaganda tit," I fell prey to "logical fallacies" and therefore, before the election, thought Obama would win maybe 350 electoral votes and McCain less than 200. How wrong I was! I need a conservative scholar like Victor Hanson to help me see the world more realistically!

[regelemihai]

No, you need to stop feeding on those Red herrings, that's what you need.

I already tol you this obsession with that election prediction (for which I would sure as hell love to see an evidence) has no reflection whatsoever on his quality as a scholar.

First of all it's a prediction and he's not a political strategist or a pollster so it's not in his field of interest. He's a historian (I dunno how many times I need to repeat this) and commentator.

[regelemihai]

And second, even if it did pertain to his general interest it's rediculous to bring him down completely because of a mistake.

Would you call Pele or Michael Jordan untalented second-rate drones becaue at some point in their professional careers they lost a few games?

Where's the logical warrant for these remarks?

[Jujuman2003]

Now, that's just the thing--Pele and Jordan have NEVER lost a game so spectacularly at the height of their powers. Hanson, despite his supposed erudition, made a CERTIFIABLY INSANE PREDICTION in the 2008 election. It would be like Jordan and the Chicago Bulls playing against a high school basketball team and losing 25 to 150. Now, why do you think Hanson could make such an insane prediction? WHY? Easy: he is a Republican ideologue divorced from reality. He's a HACK HACK HACK.

[regelemihai]

*Sigh*

[jakefree25]

He was dead wrong on Iraq and used the same dishonest poorly thought out arguments the rest of the hawks used for going to war there. Of course, he is great on pulling some classical Greek allusion out of his butt to dress up his arguments. Read his PJ Media columns and tell me if they are one iota more intelligent than say Lars Larson or any other hack, sans his historical namedropping.

[regelemihai]

To me they sound intelligent. The fact that you don't know squat about ancient Greek history is your problem, friend. Don't use it against him or against any other perosn with superior knowledge. That's just pathetic. It's your job to learn more, not to project your own lack of knowledge unto him. "Greel allusions out of his ass" how convenient for you.

You still haven't provided one argument that would render his speech "dishonest" or "dead wrong."

[jakefree25]

True, he knows a lot more about ancient Greeks history than I. He should, it is his specialty. As well as I know more about the subject than the average dullard, big deal. The trouble is that no one in real power is allowed to openly confront, on a diplomatic level, the jihad mindset in the Muslim world. We invade Iraq which had nothing to do with jihad while we befriend Muslim countries that are pro jihad . We can deny visas to any country with jihad activity or stop Saudi funding of mosques.

[regelemihai]

We befriend Saudi Arabia who, despite their radical islamic state policies actually hate militant Islamic groups. Bin Laden's movement starts out as an anti- Saudi struggle. Iraq, on the other hand, was invading other countries, using WMD's on neighbours and gave a safe haven to international jihadists like Abu Nidal and Zarqawi.

Sure we made many mistakes with regard to our foreign policies but that's a far cry from your condemnations.

[jakefree24]

Which country do you think is bankrolling all those radical mosques & the scum in Nigeria, Sudan, etc? Saudi Arabia. They may dislike Bin Laden for personal power reasons but they share the same goals & ideals. VDH stepped around the subject, but it is the Islamicists, not necessarily guerrillas, but rioters & free lance killers, along with mass immigrant mobs, that will turn Europe then us into an Islamic toilet. We can't just talk about terrorism when Saudi mosques all over preach jihad crap!

[regelemihai]

Amen to that, brother. We're on the same page to that extent and I'm glad to see you hate Jihad rhetoric. I don't disagree with respect to what you said either. They're the main financiers of radical groups in Europe who build Mosques and spout hatred against the West. Point I was makiing was that the situation is not as clear cut as you presented it. While they are wretched, they do hate islamic extermism(ironic).

[VailPatriot]

@jakefree24: "Islamic toilet"??? They use toilets? Over there, I mean... We know indoor plumbing and toilet paper are unheard of in much of that part of the world.

[jakefree24]

@VailPatriot There aren't enough trees leaves and grass nor enough water. They have to use something else.

[jakefree25]

Not really, he is not first rate historian. Hoover Institure is no big deal, they are partisan.

[regelemihai]

I didn't tie in his memebership with the Hoover institude with his credentials as a historian. He is a first rate historian. He's a specialist in classics, philology and ancient Greek history. He's also a millitary historian.

[jakefree25]

The crap he says sounds more like Limbo's rant than anything really thoughtul or intelligent. This idea of that he just wanted to bring the blessings of democracy to those poor oppressed Arabs, (& if you scoff at that you're racist or something else evil) so it made it imperative that we have the war in Iraq hardly is intelligent or very moral. I read his crap on PJMedia sometimes and he sounds like a complete hack there. He is first rate in comparison to who?

[regelemihai]

Depends on what you consider to be a reliable historian. If you haven't read his hisotrical books your criticism is null.

Second, labeling him a hack hardly amounts to an argument. The "crap" that he said here is supported by facts. What exactly threw you off? I think it was fairly accurate.

[SatchmoSings]

Eric Breindel was a junkie who used to put heroin in capsules and swallow them; he died because his innards blew out.

He was arrested on May 15, 1982 for buying heroin in a Wash. DC park; his arrest launched a HUGE investigation of drug-addicted government employees as a security risk.

Note: Not ONE of his obituaries mentioned his arrest, let alone his heroin addiction.

[lapmedong]

"The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaida.

And any informed intelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda

campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity

representing the 'devil' only in order to drive the TV watcher to accept a

unified international leadership for a war against terrorism.

The country behind this propaganda is the US ..."

Former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook

[abrams0000]

Isn't it just semantics? However, isn't the more important question to ask, why are these people resorting to terrorism? Is it possible that our past policies in the Middle East instigating their anger? Unmitigated support for Israel, supplying horrific weapons to Sadam that slaughtered Iranians and a host of other reasons.

[fingtyin]

The "war on terrorism" is a pardox in itself, since war is terrorism and terrorism is war. One can not kill fire with fire.

[jscioli83]

I dont think war is "terrorism". "George Bush's war" has brought more reconstruction and rebuilding funds to a specific area since the Marshal;l plan. Sure it has brought death and suffering on a large scale but there are people who value what the US has done for Iraq; and alot of them are Iraqis. Ex; Iraqi women now being able to vote... ect...

[jesuschrustpizza]

America's war on terror. America's war of terror.

You can't fight a "war" if the perceived enemy is not a military force.

Send Blackwater to kill the terrorists, not the U.S. Military. Let the corporations pay for it.

[jesuschrustpizza]

War on semantics.

[ConstitutionSupportr]

The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous. Hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. This new version is the past and no different past can ever have existed. In principle the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or East Asia, but to keep the very structure of society intact.

[anything4ai]

Also, I'm sure gonna avoid clicking that link to the full video. I'm afraid I might learn some history if I listen to any more of this guy.

[anything4ai]

I don't like what this guy is saying. Also, he is too smart, and he knows too many historical facts. Why can't he embrace popular simple-minded memes or conspiracy theories like the rest of us? "Its a campaign idea to take away our freedoms", for example, has a nice indignant ring to it.

[MrBasilGanglia]

@anything4ai HA. Nice backhand.

[haydencantact]

@anything4ai I agree. He has some nerve actually studying such matters. I think he needs some good old PC discipline.

[coyotesx5]

Islam is a violent religion. This is a war against Islam. Since our Marines kicked the shit out of the Barbary Pirates in Tripoli to today, this is a war of civilizations. Modern civilized Americans versus unmodern, barbaric, violent shit heads that must die of our children are to live without fear.

[jakefree25]

so just kill them all so you can sleep safely?

[VailPatriot]

@jakefree25: Only as many as is necessary to end the threat (see WW-II).

Of course, few Libtards comprehend basic concepts such as self-preservation, which is why most do not believe free citizens have the right to keep and bear arms, let alone defend themselves and their loved ones.

[andy500120]

there aren't any terrorists other than the bullshitters that created 911 fuck's sake it does not take a genius to work out what happened there,i used to love america but there is something very bad happening i hope we all live through it

[8data]

I agree with his point, Its better to die for Glory

than die in a traffic configuration

Hes compelling

They should have greater numbers if they wanted success

greater validity than Vietnam

Hes good, apologies for my previous comments, the main problem is that the United States, as his late colleague, Said wrote in Orientalism, still does not understand the cultures it enters because of its sheer power

APOLOGIES, Glad people opined on him, Compelling Man and Scholar

[funseeker2006]

his trying to tell you the terrorists are going to start running you over isnt he?

sorry got bullshit in my ears!

[funseeker2006]

no its a campaign idea to take away our freedoms with the backing of the media

[eirefrance]

Isn't there a way to acknowledge the danger without classifying it as a war? As a war, it has no victory. There is no Treaty of Versailles for terrorists. Calling it a war allows for war-time powers to be invoked, and an argument can be made that there is no point at which they can be revoked.

[8data]

nobody wants to be part of a lost cause

so, no matter how high your achievement

with an organization that is valid

you still have to be accountable to strategic failure

if your standard of living is going to diminish

because of nationality, you cant believe in fighting for your country, political will is a thing of the past

if there was a time to contribute to the greatness of the united states

it was only in electrical engineering

or mathematics but not in political science or foreign policy

[8data]

Hanson is a compelling person

but his vision for the humanities is not comparable to a better scholar, Edward Said

Having George W Bush as Commander in Chief did not inspire

westerness, it inspired failed mission

The lessons of vietnam was to not enter unless there was a strategic ability to leave society that can trade for united states main needs, namely endowments that it doesnt have, trade routes, human resources needs that enhance trade not diminish it

when the middle classes are decimated

[Grinmann]

Citing Fukuyama. That's rich. Fuku's 'End of History' was about as prophetic that comes from this charlatans mouth. Intellectually, Victor Davis Hanson's is nothing more than a slightly more eloquent version of Rush Limbaugh. Listen to his justification for the WOT. Hear it? Neither do I. He doesn't have one.

[HEYBUDD]

Notice the way they all invoke "jehad", and suggest immidiate remedy, as if it were a new concept ignoring the fact that it's over 2000 years old.

[UncleSam13]

Missed the part where he said Fukuyama was wrong did we? Try reading his books. Attacking the argument by claiming the man is not valid in his arguments is a logical fallacy.

[Grinmann]

Have read the books, Sam. The logical fallacy you credit me with is based on your own false premise. Since you seem to enjoy logic, allow me to suggest that Hanson's argument is, itself, a historical fallacy of sorts.

[UncleSam13]

The logical fallacy you commit is the ad hominem attack. But speaking of logic, I find that you aren't actually using it to make you're argument. You bore me. Good-bye.

[Grinmann]

No worries. I'll guess I'll just have to forge on without your witty and deeply, er, logical mind . . .

[Sulaco1001]

Read his books...The Western Way of Way is not what we now find ourselves waging around the world. What Hanson is trying to say is that by those outlets (i.e media, ignorant politicians) that legitimize terrorists we legitimize ours and their claims that this is a true war; which it is not.

[callumonit]

"There is no path to peace. Peace is the path" - Mahatma Gandhi

[Carlrayb]

Dr. Hanson is a brilliant man. All need to read his column and also listen to what he has

to say here!!!

[jakefree25]

He was okay in the NR, but his columns in Pajamamedia seem like the drivel you'd expect from a two bit talk radio host.

[ComradeAgopian]

I doubt a coward like you would have the courage to say that to a mans face.

[Tinfoilhatproduction]

I probably wont find out, but if I do, you'll be the first to know.

[ComradeAgopian]

I'd like that tinfoilhat..I have a great interest in meeting fascists,and showing them the errors of their ways.With you,I'd enjoy the conversation intensely.

[skye820]

10 serious incidents planned by the 'D' team of terrorists...very telling of the fractured state of terrorism.

[aussi1]

This man is a preacher of ahet and killing on the name of liberty and what ever, these people are the followers of nazi and zionists.

[Monkey2ewok]

Victor Davis Hanson is the man. I wish I could meet him someday.

[PersianGuileAgain]

"Were we devoted to true liberty and freedom, instead of half-truths and deceptive 30 second TV spots, and one liners, we would defeat the enemies of liberty, and do so with our ideas, not bombs."

Sounds more like the isolationist manifesto than a reasonable foreign policy.

What historical examples can you give of such a stance by any world power?

[jkp1187]

United States, up until the 20th century?

[awgu]

And it didnt work too well did it you fucking idiot?

[jkp1187]

I have no desire to get into a battle of wits with an utterly unarmed opponent.

[schrankage]

It's not the "terrorists" that achieved the curtailment of enlightenment, but the lack of enlightenment in our media, and society itself. Were we devoted to true liberty and freedom, instead of half-truths and deceptive 30 second TV spots, and one liners, we would defeat the enemies of liberty, and do so with our ideas, not bombs.

[philippschuetz]

The terrorists attack us because the tv spots you talk about are already undermining the islamic dictatorships and the islamists moral. So do McDonalds, CocaCola and the Internet.

Terror attacks are the last ressort of a dying culture.

[awgu]

Precisely.

Not quite "dying", but on its last legs certainly.