A worthwhile read; my first reaction was "This is supposed to be news?" I disagree with Mr. Friedman's seeming catastrophism about the current Urainian counteroffensive. I noticed one garbled sentence (reference unclear) and several grammatical errors (e.g., "it's" for "its," "whom" for "who"), but those are quibbles and typical of the poor or non-existent editing in the NYT. One can overlook those things; the basic premise is unarguable. Upon reflection, I am surprised that Mr. Friedman did not refer to the Greco-Persian wars (cf. Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, etc.), which have long been considered proof of the greater strengths of free peoples compared to conscripts and slaves. Did it not occur to him? Or did he think his audience would not understand such basic history? Or did his column have to be trimmed to a certain size that precluded mention of it? I note with interest that the Athenians and their allies chose Marathon as the site of battle because marshes and mountains limited the Persian army; the Ukrainians flooded an area north of Kiev to similarly limit the Russian advance. The [Second] Battle of Tannenberg during WWI also bears consideration. ----Alan
People who are impatient about the speed of the Ukrainian advance lack perspective. The Allies didn't just land in Normandy and immediately stroll into Berlin. As memory serves me (I am too lazy to look it up at the moment) the Allies didn't break out of their Normandy beachhead for two months (even with air superiority). One reason they were able to break out was that US soldiers used Czech hedgehogs the Germans emplaced as barriers on the beaches to manufacture cutting bars that enabled tanks to tear right through hedgerows. That idea didn't come from the Pentagon. ----Alan
I too thought he was a bit over the top with the doom saying...until I realised he is trying to light a fire under us so we'll vote well and keep the nutty Republicans from stopping aid to Ukraine. It really will be incredibly serious for the world if Ukraine falls. The Russia ~ North Korea ~ China affiliation is alarming, truly, as it means them banding together as one large enemy of democracy. We could be looking at WWIII in our lifetime. I guess that's worth a little pre-big-war hysteria.
A blogger named Jody Tishmack wrote this:
ReplyDeleteThomas Friedman wrote a excellent OP-Ed piece about the war in Ukraine in the NY Times today. Here is a gift link if you want to read it.
Friedman’s NYT article on Ukraine
^ {listener}
DeleteA worthwhile read; my first reaction was "This is supposed to be news?" I disagree with Mr. Friedman's seeming catastrophism about the current Urainian counteroffensive. I noticed one garbled sentence (reference unclear) and several grammatical errors (e.g., "it's" for "its," "whom" for "who"), but those are quibbles and typical of the poor or non-existent editing in the NYT. One can overlook those things; the basic premise is unarguable. Upon reflection, I am surprised that Mr. Friedman did not refer to the Greco-Persian wars (cf. Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, etc.), which have long been considered proof of the greater strengths of free peoples compared to conscripts and slaves. Did it not occur to him? Or did he think his audience would not understand such basic history? Or did his column have to be trimmed to a certain size that precluded mention of it? I note with interest that the Athenians and their allies chose Marathon as the site of battle because marshes and mountains limited the Persian army; the Ukrainians flooded an area north of Kiev to similarly limit the Russian advance. The [Second] Battle of Tannenberg during WWI also bears consideration.
Delete----Alan
People who are impatient about the speed of the Ukrainian advance lack perspective. The Allies didn't just land in Normandy and immediately stroll into Berlin. As memory serves me (I am too lazy to look it up at the moment) the Allies didn't break out of their Normandy beachhead for two months (even with air superiority). One reason they were able to break out was that US soldiers used Czech hedgehogs the Germans emplaced as barriers on the beaches to manufacture cutting bars that enabled tanks to tear right through hedgerows. That idea didn't come from the Pentagon.
Delete----Alan
I too thought he was a bit over the top with the doom saying...until I realised he is trying to light a fire under us so we'll vote well and keep the nutty Republicans from stopping aid to Ukraine. It really will be incredibly serious for the world if Ukraine falls. The Russia ~ North Korea ~ China affiliation is alarming, truly, as it means them banding together as one large enemy of democracy. We could be looking at WWIII in our lifetime. I guess that's worth a little pre-big-war hysteria.
DeleteKinda related:
DeleteWhy the Russian Army Collapsed in 1917 [Click] Mark Twain: “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme.”
—Alan
Jack Smith requests Trump gag order [Click] Actually filed some time ago; redacted version just released to the public by Judge Chutkin.
ReplyDelete—Alan
Former county clerk Kim Davis is ordered to pay $100,000 to same-sex couple she denied marriage license
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is that I saw this headline on Andy Borowitz's page and wasn't sure it was real or fake news at first! HA!
DeleteOdd that the other couple weren't awarded damages; I wish the article had addressed that. There must be an explanation.
Delete----Alan