{"id":81300,"date":"2015-12-05T19:16:04","date_gmt":"2015-12-06T03:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=81300"},"modified":"2015-12-05T19:16:04","modified_gmt":"2015-12-06T03:16:04","slug":"iraq-war-architect-bill-kristol-complains-about-american-war-weariness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=81300","title":{"rendered":"Iraq War architect Bill Kristol complains about American \u201cwar-weariness\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Salon<\/a>: Bill Kristol, son of neoconservative titan Irving Kristol and editor of the Weekly Standard, has a new essay up at the Standard\u2019s website, decrying American war-weariness and chastising politicians who use Americans\u2019 desire to avoid war as \u201cas an excuse to avoid maintaining our defenses or shouldering our responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre Americans today war-weary?\u201d Kristol begins. \u201cSure. The Iraq and Afghanistan wars have been frustrating and tiring.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre Americans today unusually war-weary?\u201d he continues. \u201cNo. They were wearier after the much larger and even more frustrating conflicts in Korea and Vietnam.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kristol goes on to claim that the wars in Korea and Vietnam \u201chad more satisfactory outcomes\u201d than those in Iraq and Afghanistan but nevertheless were concluded with \u201cwar-weariness,\u201d too. \u201cSo American war-weariness isn\u2019t new,\u201d he writes. \u201cUsing it as an excuse to avoid maintaining our defenses or shouldering our responsibilities isn\u2019t new, either.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that doesn\u2019t make it admirable,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

After approvingly quoting a letter to the Wall Street Journal that claimed the only people who could justifiably claim to be war-weary are members of the military, Kristol goes on to argue, \u201cthe idol of war-weariness can be challenged\u201d and that \u201c[a]ll that\u2019s needed is the rallying.\u201d<\/p>\n

He cites \u2014 who else? \u2014 Ronald Reagan as proof: \u201cRonald Reagan ran against both Democratic dovishness and Republican d\u00e9tente. He proposed confronting the Soviet Union and rebuilding our military. It was said that the country was too war-weary, that it was too soon after Vietnam, for Reagan\u2019s stern and challenging message. Yet Reagan won the election in 1980.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kristol grants that Reaganesque hawkishness might not be the GOP\u2019s best ticket to victory in 2016, but writes, \u201c[W]hat would such a victory be worth?\u201d<\/p>\n

After quoting Shakespeare in service of the argument that war-weariness is shameful, Kristol writes, \u201cWill no brave leader step forward to honorably awaken us from our unworthy sleep?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Salon: Bill Kristol, son of neoconservative titan Irving Kristol and editor of the Weekly Standard, has a new essay up at the Standard\u2019s website, decrying American war-weariness and chastising politicians who use Americans\u2019 desire to avoid war as \u201cas … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-neoconservatives"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t