david halberstam

Stark evidence from our past about our inability to learn today

Summary: Nothing shows our FAILure to learn more than how we’ve repeat so many of our mistakes of Vietnam in Afghanistan. No hegemon, no matter how powerful, can survive a rapidly changing world, filled with rivals and foes, if it doesn’t profit from its experience. Today is FAILure to learn day, with 3 lessons from …

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Another echo in Afghanistan of the Vietnam War. Will we hear it, and learn?

Summary:  The Afghanistan War vividly demonstrates one of America’s greatest weaknesses.  We don’t learn from experience.  Change the names and so much history of Vietnam War reads like today’s news.  All that’s old is new again.  The actions of Lt Colonel Davis (see yesterday’s post) should remind us of similar events so long ago. From David …

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Are we fools? Yes, if we repeat the “who lost China” madness.

America’s combination of hubris and paranoia produces many strange things — which we baffle our descendents — but the repeating debates in the form of “who lost China” must take the booby-prize. “The Coming Failure On Iran“, Jackson Diehl (a deputy editor), Washington Post, 4 October 2009 — The title says it all.  If Iran …

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Seeing today through the eyes of a future historian

Here are excepts from a history of the Af-Pak War written in the year 2020, downloaded from my Kindle DX.   Tomorrow’s news brought to you today on the FM website! Excerpt #1 They thought they were very good, and they were always talking about keeping their options open, even as, day by day and week by week, …

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