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January 2007
Elsewhere on the WebVictor Davis Hanson’s Private Papers Victor Davis Hanson Archive on National Review OnlineTour Books
A War Like No Other How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War
by Victor Hanson
Amazon.com’s Best of 2001 Many theories have been offered regarding why Western culture has spread so successfully across the world, with arguments ranging from genetics to superior technology to the creation of enlightened economic, moral, and political systems. In Carnage and Culture, military historian Victor Hanson takes all of these factors into account in making a bold, and sure to be controversial, argument: Westerners are more effective killers.
by Victor Davis Hanson
by Victor Davis Hanson
by Victor Davis Hanson
by Victor Davis Hanson, John Keegan Hanson, for those who somehow have missed him until now, is a professor of Classics at California State and also is a part time farmer, both of which have contributed to his writing as a military historian. As a classicist, Hanson is well versed in the sources in their original Greek, and as a farmer he understands how agriculture affected the experience of the Greeks at war.
by Victor Davis Hanson
by Victor Davis Hanson
Hanson relates the life stories of his farmer neighbors, writing that their way of life will likely soon disappear, thanks in part to a federal system of agricultural subsidies that favors large-scale, industrial farm corporations over individual “yeomen.” This is a sobering and eye-opening book. by Victor Davis Hanson On first glance, The Soul of Battle appears to be three different books: biographies of two well-known generals—Sherman and Patton—and one who is virtually unknown today, the ancient Greek leader Epaminondas. Yet Victor Davis Hanson, a classics professor and author of The Western Way of War, makes a compelling connection between these three men. They were “eccentrics, considered unbalanced or worse by their own superiors” who led democratic armies on missions of freedom.
by Robert B. Strassler (Editor), Victor Davis Hanson (Introduction)
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January 23, 2007 1:31 PM
The State of the UnionWhat is America—and is it worth defending? I spoke on campuses recently and listened to a number of students discuss issues of immigration, national identify, and the old race/class/gender conundrum. What struck me were two things: the unwillingness of young Americans in the audience to define, much less in thought or speech to defend their civilization. And I noted the paradoxical criticism of the United States by those who have just arrived on our shores. Why would any wish to come to a country that they almost immediately fault—that takes more legal immigrants alone than all other countries combined? Is it that such contrariness earns acceptance from our own cynical and nihilistic elite? As I pointed out to these audiences, rarely do Americans in turn define newcomers here by the sins of their homeland. Imagine, I went on, if Chinese students were reminded that the antecedents of their current government since 1945 murdered or starved to death 70 million of their own? Should the Indian immigrant be reminded of suttee and the caste system? The students seemed a little stunned, but had picked up the current American campus trait of thinking that if the United States can be shown not to be perfect, it is therefore not good—and that no one would dare to question the moral principles, or consistency, by which they press their own moralistic attack on the United States. We worry about the Patriot Act. Castro and Hugo Chavez end free speech. We worry about morality in foreign policy, China contracts with the Sudan and Iran for all they can get. We worry about the glass-ceiling, the Islamic world doesn’t mention much about polygamy or female circumcision. We worry about the religious Right, Saudi Arabia arrests those with bibles. The world abroad, these students sometimes forget, does not operate on the principles of the campus library or student union. Because the US is increasingly a country of the mind, not defined by race or ethnic background anymore, it becomes more, not less, critical to agree on a shared language, values, and respect for a unique past—if we are not simply to descend into tribalism. We are not a Japan or Saudi Arabia that can fall back on race or religion, when the notion of nationhood falters. We only have common ideals, a history, a language, and a Constitution. It is not written in stone that these exist in perpetuity without periodical homage and defense. So criticize the US when it deserves it; point out our flaws, but understand that the alternatives are far worse—and for a variety of reasons that are rarely any more discussed. China? What amazes is the pass given China, not only about its bloody past, or its authoritarian present, but also about its cutthroat international hooliganism, whether violating copyright laws, shooting missiles into space, or cutting oil and mineral deals with the worst regimes imaginable, as well as absolute intransigence over Tibet. Something about those Mao suits and revolutionary fumes provide exemption among the usual hothouse leftist critics.
Right now the United States is fighting the fifth—not the first—war for Iraq. I. 1991 The first was in 1991 when America liberated Kuwait from Saddam Hussein. Either out of deference to the United Nations coalition, or Arab sensitivities, it did not remove that savage dictator. An exempt Saddam then subsequently murdered thousands of Shiite and Kurdish dissidents. Americans were upset that for all the military brilliance of Gulf War I, it ended inconclusively. The peace apparently set off as much violence in Iraq as the war in Kuwait had intended to prevent. II. No-Fly Zones So in response, a second twelve-year war followed under Presidents George Herbert Bush, Bill Clinton, and George Walker Bush. From 1991 to 2003, America enforced no-fly zones, while the United Nations conducted embargoes and weapons inspections. Despite its length and cost, and the corruption by the United Nations, America suffered almost no battle casualties in this second conflict. Thousands of malnourished Iraqis, however, died due to Saddam’s manipulation of sanctions. III.The Three Week War After September 11 a majority of both Democrats and Republicans had had enough of 350,000 sorties, a decade of violations by Saddam, the corruption of the Oil-for-Food program, and the suffering of the most vulnerable of Iraqi society. So yet a third war ensued. This time a brilliant three-week effort finally removed Saddam Hussein for good, one authorized by both houses of Congress that basked in the postbellum support of 70% of the American people. All were buoyed that the final end of the murderous Baathists was achieved at amazingly little cost. But the peace proved more difficult than the three-week fighting. And from 2003 through 2005, there was yet a fourth war to establish an Iraqi democracy to prevent the emergence of another petrodollar dictator with imperial ambitions. This war was the costliest of the four, taking over 2,000 American lives and billions in aid. Terrorists—mostly ex-Baathists, Wahhabi jihadists, and al Qaedists—sought to ruin the lives of Iraqis and overturn the verdict of three surprisingly successful Iraqi national elections. Iraqi War IV sputtered inconclusively with neither the United States able to quell the Sunni-inspired violence nor the terrorists able to force the coalition to leave and install a theocracy in its place. V. Gangs and Militias And now we are in yet a fifth sort of war that for most of 2006 has cost another 1000 American lives. Frustrated Shiites, many egged on by an opportunistic and theocratic Iran, finally ran out of patience and began to retaliate against Sunni terrorists. Both Shiites and Sunnis militias now kill Americans and each other—a bellum omnium contra omnes. Each carves out its own spheres of influence in efforts to collapse the elected central government in Baghdad. Oil or Not? We can learn lessons from these five wars. First they are—and are not—over oil. The United States does not wish to steal Iraqi oil—indeed we gave back to both the Kuwaitis and Iraqis themselves complete control over the petroleum that Saddam had appropriated when we had it in our power not to. Rather, the United States does not want one of the world’s chief supplies of energy to fall under the control of a madman nor the resulting petrodollar bonanza once more recycled into frightful weapons. Why Iraq? Bipartisanship Currently the majority of Americans and the Democratic Party have had enough. They feel that either that the Iraqis are simply not worth the cost in American blood or treasure, or that our withdrawal won’t make that much difference either way. Only a shrinking number of Republicans still insists that by historical standards America has done surprisingly well in removing Saddam and fostering democracy—and we can still stabilize that achievement with a year or two more of costly custodianship. Iraq Will Find Us Fourth, and most importantly, Iraq won’t go away. Its strategic location, its natural wealth and importance to the world economy, worries over Iran, regional nuclear proliferation, proximity to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, and the pan-Arabic factional fighting and international terrorism, all that and more explain why, whether under Democrats or Republicans, we were engaged in Iraq in some fashion for the last 17 years. We may not wish to find Iraq, but it always seems to find us. After the last post, someone wrote me asking why can’t we make a good western these days? A number of reasons come to mind. The multicultural rage has sort of defined the genre as a perpetual Dancing With Wolves, or at least no homage is to be given to the sort-of Sophoclean Ajax profile that framed a Shane or Will Cane, the persona that had given up on society’s plodding rules, and so went it alone. Very non-communitarian. Very preemptive and unilateral. Or as the Europeans say—very cowboyish. More mundanely, it’s hard to find a Ben Johnson/Slim Pickens accent or even a manly Bill Holden/Alan Ladd/John Wayne manner in Hollywood anymore. That slightly southern/western, slightly rural, slightly drawly accent has passed away and it is hard to replicate, especially with the increasing nasalization of the metrosexual American male accent. A few like Tommy Lee Jones or Robert Duvall could of course play wonderful westerners, but then they are of a passing generation as well. Yet I think the public would greet an authentic western, with a young against-the-grain actor, playing a role where a craggy single figure (of questionable past) pulls down the temple of the status quo for a principle. That was a title of a book I once wrote about farming. Since that publication, my siblings have sold out or stopped farming, the local town is now very near, and housing is zoned less than a mile away. My 43 acres of vines are aging. I rent the vineyard out now, and prices for raisins still are not break-even. So something has to be done, as I talk about the future with my 24-year old son. Either we finish remodeling the house, and tear out the vines and plant something more easily mechanized (a project from $3000 to $5,000 per acre), or give up and accept the future. After about a minute’s deliberation, I decided to put a new kitchen in the 130-year old house that my great-great grandmother built. And I will try to start earning some money to lose it by fixing up the place (new pump, laser-leveling, extra drip irrigation system, patented trees to plant) for the next generation’s turn. I hope to be done by 60. Comments (24)WillyShake :Wayne :Defining the US as a "nation of the mind" is well put. Our history shows our borders to be fluid and relatively unsecure. Simply put, few nations have grown, geographically, as much as the US since its inception. The problem, though, with a "nation of the mind" is what happens when its citizens no longer agree on the mental boundaries. The citizens of the US used to believe in "manifest destiny" and the exceptionalism of the US. Now, not so much. Are we simply seeing an evolution in the boundaries of this mental state, or are we ceding its borders as we haven't the will even to protect them, much less its arbitrary physical borders, these days? Bill Bradley :With you on the Westerns (as you might guess). Lonesome Dove was the last great Western -- with Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones, of course -- as well as the last great miniseries. Open Range was a pretty good Western -- not a Dances With Wolves, though it starred Kevin Costner -- also with Duvall and Annette Bening. But audiences are more interested in science fiction for mythic mass entertainment now. And the younger actors who could credibly play a strong Western character, such as Russell Crowe and Daniel Craig, aren't Americans. Lincoln :Kudos for wading into the neglected arena of the day, college campuses. David Horowitz, like you, have taken this odessey to navigate your ship where few dare, the college campus. We have to win the fight in the here and now, militarily. Yet we also have to cultivate the land sufficiently if we are to see our founding ideals remain in the continuem they deserve. There are many facets to the battle and you must recognize this clearly if you waded into the halls of indifference and moral relativism to jerk a few knots in their tales. As you said in you earlier writings, it is the job of conservative Americans to get their message out whenever they can regardless of the acceptance to that message. Glad to see that you meant what you said. Looks like you are in this for the "Long Run". Jack Marcotte :Behind the clouds there is a "Sun". Its force always and eventually will burn away the clouds and the rain. It is the counter weight to primitive and modern mans "hysterical" thoughts when confronted with his own weakness and he seeks solace in groups and seeks to bind on pain of death group thinking or tribal thinking to patch the holes of his fear with fully rationalized "isms", socialism, communism, tribalism and other binding collective thinking. It is a process that creates pyramids of power, gratitude, subservience and rots away the very purpose of man and throws away his very strengths that are a result of millions of years of evolution. The "Sun" was rediscovered in America, It is hard but just. It burns away fuzzy Utopian thinking. It forces humans to recognize what is demanded of them as individuals to secure their future. It talks about a limited government to support common interests---not to support day to day lives of humans like animals in a zoo. Like minded Men like Jefferson, Washington, Adams, writers like Tom Paine, saw it, could describe it and based a constitution on it. Acted on it. Provided a nation of like minded men a space to live on this earth. Paid for with their lives. It will need to be "found" again. To be found again it must be lost. It seems that our new "leadership" is hell bent for losing it. Lets get on with it. This dilly dally simply saps our strength. I am getting older and do not wish to miss this fight. I would like to be in a fight where we fight to win because we have to. MarkP :Only a society with too much wealth and free time could create, much less embrace, multi-culturalism, a system designed to encourage self-loathing to the point of national immolation. Near as I can tell, the whole leftist credo is a form of psychological pathology: "I feel so guilty, but I don't know why." Such people react like spoiled adolescents by turning to nihilism as the answer to their pent up frustrations. There's a book waiting to be written on the nature of decadence, and this contemporary manifestation could fill more than a few chapters. What a strange time we live in when the good and noble voices of our past can be drowned out by the crying of cranky children. But I understand that California is going to outlaw spanking. Shows you what happens when the reins of government are turned over to children. Holly : Dave Begley - Omaha :Regarding Western movies: Check out "Open Range" with Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall. The show down scene in the bar during a thunderstorm is great. ("A man has the right to defend his property and his life....!) Very good but not great. Filmed in Canada and not Nebraska, Colorado or Montana but it looks like the US. VDH: "Currently the majority of Americans and the Democratic Party have had enough. They feel that either that the Iraqis are simply not worth the cost in American blood or treasure, or that our withdrawal won’t make that much difference either way." Nail hit again. Last night the President, as Commander-in-Chief, asked Congress for both patience and to allow the military a chance to WIN. For the remainder of the week the clueless and spineless in the Senate will offer resolutions denying the President's request and undercutting his constitutional authority. I'm ashamed that BOTH Nebraska senators are in this group. I'm especially surprised that my old co-worker Ben Nelson is in the group. I thought he was smarter and more prudent than that. Ivanhoe :I am not sure where the notion that America is at the root of all the world’s problems first started, but I first noticed it among my peers in the 60’s. As I creak along in my fifties it becomes apparent to me that if we are to feel badly about anything, it should be the utopian self-absorbed behavior of certain segments of my generation, the “boomer” generation. You know, the Generation-That-Can’t-Quite-Get-Over-Itself? The ones who, even while slipping and sliding on the rotting carcass of socialism still won’t give up the dream of the workers paradise? And by God, even if they have to bankrupt the next ten generations, are determined to see it through! America has, and will, make mistakes, but even a casual student of history can see that the American Republic with all its faults, delusions and shortcomings is still the best, and perhaps last, chance for the common man to have the slightest hope for control over his own destiny. In my opinion Dr. Hanson, for whatever fame and fortune your considerable speaking and writing skills bring you, you can leave no greater legacy than a son engaged in a family farming operation, on land trod by his ancestors. Some in my farming community have half-jokingly called it child abuse to start another generation down the farming path, but the alternative is grim as you can see on your farm borders. The boy will just have to keep a “town” job in addition to his agricultural endeavors. You are probably too old to see it, as am I, but your son may see a return to viable small farms as agricultural subsidies inevitably go away and fossil fuel prices continue to climb making “grown local” more attractive. Steve Tweddell :'Vic' Fear not sprout!(you're several years my jr.) You've got lots of time. In fact the challenge will do you good. Due to changes beyond my control and reading the proverbial handwriting on the wall I decided at 56 to go back to school for a second master's to pursue a vision. Most fun I've had since I turned 40! I tell people to step out of their comfort zone and really live! Ken Coates :I have to disagree with your characterization that the First Gulf War was fought with support from Democrats in Congress. While some Democrats voted for it, there was a lot of opposition. Democrats in general wanted to let sanctions have some time to “work”. The vote was 52-47 in the Senate and 250-183 in the House. Two thirds of Democrats in the House and 45 of 56 Democrats in the Senate voted against it. I think that vote is an interesting contrast to the one for the current Iraq War which enjoyed majority Democrat support. After the First Gulf War, the opposition Democrats came across as weak since the fighting was over quickly, resulted in few casualties (there were dire predictions of massive casualties), and Saddam’s WMD program was exposed as much more advanced than suspected. During the 2004 Presidential campaign, John Kerry went through all sorts of contortions to try and explain his vote against the First Gulf War. In the run-up to the vote for the current Gulf War, the Democrats seemed to make a political calculation to get the vote behind them before the 2002 mid-term elections. Mindful of their being on the wrong side in 1991, a majority voted for the war. It was only when the casualties started rising did they change their tune. Interestingly enough, one report I read (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War#Final_peace_proposals) about the diplomatic efforts before the First Gulf War had Saddam Hussein trying to link his withdrawal from Kuwait to Israel returning the Golan Heights to Syria and the West Bank and Gaza to the Palestinians. Some things never change. :( Junius :HBO's "Deadwood" is an example of the problems of modern westerns. According to the show the most popular word in the Old West was the "F" word. I am sure the word was extant at that time, but to spit it out in the face of some one other than a trusted friend was an invitation to get shot---end of story. Westerners and Southerners, who had a more ready access to firearms than their Big City cousins, were more polite than modern urban writers can imagine. Sometimes I think that where gun control predominates, manners decline. Ritchie Emmons :The last good Western that comes immediately to mind is Tombstone (1993). Val Kilmer was so good as Doc Holliday that I refuse to watch Val Kilmer in a movie ever again. For my money, the best of all time is The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. A movie that turns 40 years old this year. Clint Eastwood's character (Blondie) may be my favorite movie character of all time. This from a movie that pre-dates me. You're right Dr. Hanson, Westerns just aren't the same as they used to be. Bert :Dear Dr. Hanson, Glad to hear you have decided to throw good money after good money and keep the farm. Your roots in the land are impossible to replace. Thank you for the great articles; "What is America-and is it worth defending"? is especially relevant. Best regards, Fred L :I know about decisions regarding the land. Ours is not a family farm, but it is 100 acres in Ohio with a 140+ year old log house and we dreamed once that we were going to raise our girls there and make the farm productive once again. It wore us out in 25 years, but the girls think of it as home. I regret we can't afford the restoration you are contemplating, but then our roots are not as deep there. I wish you well -- our country needs to preserve these farms to teach people to pursue impossible dreams. F David Parsons :Open Range is a great western (Duval, Costner). The best gunfight I've ever seen, by far. Not too much talking. A lot of non-verbal communication. The story felt real. Like that land you own. Zachary McKamie :Victor Hanson again tells the truth that can strengthen a nation if it would but listen. But like the man who looks in a mirror then walks away immediately forgetting what he looks like, America hears what is good for its vitality then immediately turns to what is popular and funny (Which so happens to be self criticism and America bashing). Where are genuinely patriotic people to be found outside of the working class that makes up most of the military forces? Like the Romans before us, according to Edward Gibbon, we as a nation are forgetting who we are and what we stand for. America is forgetting what it means to be American. If any person tries to preserve "American" ideals – a special and unique history, language (as is necessary for all cultures), tolerance (not the current, unrealistic multicultural acceptance) - they are viewed as a bigot acting in the typical bigotry fashion of the Anglo-American. Our nation needs history teachers and professors that are smart enough to point out the flaws in the hypocritical pop culture of today’s America bashing. We need teachers that inspire students to be citizens that promote the proud tradition laid before them, not sit on the pedestal of elitism and dismantle the honest progress of a nation with a cynical grin. Zach McKamie - USMC Joe Toboni :Dear Dr Hanson. Are your grapes used for wine? Why don't you use your popularity to advertise wine made from your grapes? A simple add on the "Private Papers" would generate sales, mine included.
scott macleod :Victor, a belated response to your Paradoxes Galore blog from Dec. 30, which I have just caught up with. I take exception to your complaint that I was obsequious in my interview with Ahmadinejad, but that's your opinion. You're mistaken however in saying that I didn't ask him about his threats to Israel or his holocaust denial. Apologies if my exact phrasing of questions wasn't to your liking, but I felt they were most likely to gain a fresh rather than predictable response. You decide whether they did or not, but you were unfair in suggesting to your loyal readers that I didn't raise these important issues at all. As for Iraq, you got me there--I can only plead we ran out of time. You might as well ask the White House that question now. Why did it red-carpet Abdul Aziz Hakim last month, given that SCIRI is the largest and most important Iranian-backed Iraqi Shiite military group challenging the U.S. presence in Iraq? That's who you meant by terrorists, no? T. O'Connor :Last night on "Hannity and Colmes", a tongue-tied Chuck Norris sitting in for Hannity, I listened to an interview with an American-born "rap artist" of Iraqi descent. The singer is a Chaldean, and also a recent business administration graduate from the University of San Diego. He says in a new song that the war is not the fault of the US soldiers: "God save the troops". But his lyrics amount to a call to insurrection against the American-led effort in Iraq. "Dear Mr. George Bush, why do you insist to make a fool of us? For over 200 years... we stood for what's good, now we despised by our peers; and what do you but add fuel to the fire and send in more troops. ... "George, I don't really know who sent'cha, but don't let karma come and get'cha. ... "The sound of gunfire is my favorite song ... "There's a war going on outside, there's death everywhere but I feel so alive. ... "America the beautiful what did they do to you, they used you it's so indisputable!" Asked to explain himself, the rapper repeated from first to last that Iraq was a safer place under Saddam, even though he "wasn't defending Saddam". (He visited Baghdad once in the 1990's). If the singer made an additional argument during the interview, I never heard it. Gauging from the nonplussed looks on the faces of Hannity and Norris it was sufficient that the young man is a self-professed Christian, that he "loves America", and that he supports the troops. In VDH's words above, "no one would dare to question the moral principles, or consistency, by which [he] pressed [his] own moralistic attack on the United States." In the interview, no matters of principle were ever discussed. Certainly the most obvious inconsistency would have concerned the churl's own memory of safely walking a street in Saddam's Baghdad, and whether that came arbitrarily at the expense of some other poor fellow, someone who back home (USA) would have enjoyed the same safety that our "artist" enjoyed thanks to our underlying principles. No, it was enough that HE felt safer under Saddam on his one visit to Iraq. Apparently the sole criterion of a self-serving social order is just another p.o.v. these days. This madness, and the usual and eternal threat of sophistry, continues at "Huffington Post" where we are instructed that this same rapper "effectively tear(s) into the Iraq war and President Bush. "He loves the US and doesn't attack the troops, and instead focuses his lyrical crosshairs firmly on the President and his policies. "He addresses stereotypes, talks about America's endangered global standing, delivers an important history lesson on the Middle East, and even addresses the President's new surge plan. "The beat is hot, the lyrics are strong, and the message is honest." Kerry :Are you going to build your own kitchen cabinets? If so, I will be happy to lend any expertise and answer any questions I can. It isn't really difficult, depending on the kind of doors one makes. I am a furniture maker by self training, and a journeyman cabinetmaker in a fixture shop by employment. Marilyn :FYI: #1 actor women hate: Tom Cruise.
Dare I say I read you all the time and many of your books, you always get me thinking,and then go to Perez Hilton. Ah...the internet. Jack Marcotte :Essential VDH In essence they are not allowed to grow up. There is in some sense a real connection between the Chinese Socialist government and "communism" the Chinese students and our growing population of dependent students who cannot do for themselves so they yell and scream at others to take care of them. It is simply psychological "displacement". Earlier generations of Americans had the benefit of a more accurate look at life and a big dose of individual responsibility in their upbringing. No such luck for America now. "Victim" politics for "votes" and the American educational system are doing a horrific job by undermining America's very ability to survive by creating "idiots" within our population. If America fails it will be from within. Nick B :Dear Dr. Hanson, I suspect that today's students appreciate the U.S. more than we think. The loudest mouths are always quick to slam our history and foreign policy. Part of being a student is having the luxury to obsess over issues of gender, race, class etc. ad nauseum. However, there's a significant contingent that keeps quiet, graduates, and rejects this negativity. The classroom and the real world rarely collide anyway. Comments have been archived for this page. |
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A comment and a question:
First, my comment is simply to wish you all the best as you tend your farm--may you, like the son of Arkeisios, draw strength and courage from the presence of your son.
And my (admittedly large and unreasonable) question is this: what advice do you have for a PhD Candidate in English who is about to enter the Academy and who is profoundly disturbed by the trend in education, scholarship, and pedagogy that you mention here and in your other writings?
I only wish I could consult with you further about a proposed Renaissance Drama course that I'm designing called "Drama at War." Inspired by your work (yet focused on my field of study) the course would look at how English and Italian thinkers like Machiavelli, More, and Castiglione discuss the terrible battles of the early 16th century. We would then turn to the stage to study how the plays of Marlowe and Shakespeare represent war and respond to those earlier thinkers.
I feel it's my duty to reintroduce the proper (i.e. non-therapeutic) teaching of military history in whatever small way that I can.
And I would be very grateful for any recommendations you have for secondary reading on Medieval/Renaissance military history!
Jan 23, 2007 02:21 PM