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    Small Wars Journal SWJED's Avatar
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    Default 12 Myths of 21st Century War

    Ralph Peters in the November 2007 edition of American Legion Magazine - 12 Myths of 21st Century War. Visit the link for Peters' reasoning behind each myth.

    Myth No. 1: War doesn't change anything.
    Myth No. 2: Victory is impossible today.
    Myth No. 3: Insurgencies can never be defeated.
    Myth No. 4: There's no military solution; only negotiations can solve our problems.
    Myth No. 5: When we fight back, we only provoke our enemies.
    Myth No. 6: Killing terrorists only turns them into martyrs.
    Myth No. 7: If we fight as fiercely as our enemies, we're no better than them.
    Myth No. 8: The United States is more hated today than ever before.
    Myth No. 9: Our invasion of Iraq created our terrorist problems.
    Myth No. 10: If we just leave, the Iraqis will patch up their differences on their own.
    Myth No. 11: It's all Israel's fault. Or the popular Washington corollary: "The Saudis are our friends."
    Myth No. 12: The Middle East's problems are all America's fault.

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    Council Member SteveMetz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SWJED View Post
    Ralph Peters in the November 2007 edition of American Legion Magazine - 12 Myths of 21st Century War. Visit the link for Peters' reasoning behind each myth.
    I love Ralph to death and was with him last week, but that's kind of Limbaughism--throw out a bunch of positions that no one really holds and then beat the stuffing out of them.

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    Council Member Danny's Avatar
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    Default Many People

    Steve, with all due respect, I know many people who believe some, most or all of the things Ralph debunks.

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    Council Member SteveMetz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Danny View Post
    Steve, with all due respect, I know many people who believe some, most or all of the things Ralph debunks.
    Well, I don't have any research to back it, but I'd bet my bippy that those positions are only held by a tiny minority of Americans.

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    Council Member Ken White's Avatar
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    Default Steve, I agree with you IF

    Quote Originally Posted by SteveMetz View Post
    Well, I don't have any research to back it, but I'd bet my bippy that those positions are only held by a tiny minority of Americans.
    you add the words "who in some cases hold positions in the media, academia and politics and thus have some influence over what the rest of America may be inclined to think."

    Ol' Ralph may be into hyperbole and invective but his basic positions are at least occasionally if not generally accurate and I've seen and heard everyone of those myths (to use his word); they are in various combinations the position of some and I've had arguments or discussions about most of them with a number of people That indicates to me they are not strawmen at all -- just uncomfortable for some.

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    I have to agree with Steve:

    "If we fight as fiercely as our enemies, we're no better than them."

    That's not what people are saying. They're saying "Torture is wrong and it doesn't work anyway."

    "War doesn't change anything."

    I don't know anyone who thought Chamberlain was right and Churchill was wrong.

    "If we just leave, the Iraqis will patch up their differences on their own."

    That's not what people are saying. They're saying. "Why should we spend $2 trillion in Iraq when we can't even secure our own borders?"

    They're also saying there were no weapons of mass destruction, Iran is a bigger threat than Iraq, that we need more troops in Afghanistan and that troop deployments are too long and placing too large a burden on military families.

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    Council Member tequila's Avatar
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    Ralph Peters turns this kind of article out in his sleep. Strawmen battled with assertion and invective.

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    Default Jumping on the bandwagon

    Quote Originally Posted by tequila View Post
    Ralph Peters turns this kind of article out in his sleep. Strawmen battled with assertion and invective.
    Yup, that sums it up pretty well. I met Peters once, and he was both very intelligent and gracious, but whenever I read his articles...so much vitriol, anything meaningful gets lost fast. He's the defense/foreign policy Ann Coulter, another person who's undoubtedly smarter than she seems and acts, and knows how to play to the crowd (of idiots) she caters to. Maybe I'll tackle one of his books when I have some time in a few months, but the shorter stuff sure doesn't provide much of an inducement to do so.
    Last edited by Granite_State; 05-29-2008 at 11:48 PM.

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    Default books

    I first read a Peters book 5 or 6 years ago while a cadet at Fort Knox. Some of his stuff is dead on, some over the top. It can be hit or miss, but generally he has a unique perspective. Most of his books are collections of his essays or articles, so you may not enjoy them all that much.

    Quote Originally Posted by Granite_State View Post
    Maybe I'll tackle one of his books when I have some time in a few months, but the shorter stuff sure doesn't provide much of an inducement to do so.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Danny View Post
    Steve, with all due respect, I know many people who believe some, most or all of the things Ralph debunks.
    I hate to say it, but I have to agree with this. Now if it's something they really believe (and by that I mean deep within the core of their very beings) or if it's just something they've latched onto because it's what a talking head said on TV (or someone they respected told them) is another question entirely. #1 and #3 are the most common, from what I've seen.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Blair View Post
    Now if it's something they really believe (and by that I mean deep within the core of their very beings) or if it's just something they've latched onto because it's what a talking head said on TV (or someone they respected told them) is another question entirely.
    You mean a conviction as opposed to an opinion?
    "Pick up a rifle and you change instantly from a subject to a citizen." - Jeff Cooper

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    Council Member Mark O'Neill's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SteveMetz View Post
    I love Ralph to death and was with him last week, but that's kind of Limbaughism--throw out a bunch of positions that no one really holds and then beat the stuffing out of them.
    Nailed it correctly! He must have been feeling that it was time to up his 'Google' quotient.
    Last edited by Mark O'Neill; 10-31-2007 at 10:54 AM. Reason: expansion

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    This was obviously written for his target audiance - the American Legion.

    Peter's scholarly work is quite good, it's pieces like this and most of his "work" in the New York Post that damage his credibility. I guess one has to feed the family, and writing in a style that guarantees conversation (or as Mark O'Neill cleverly states "Upping his Google quotient") is a good way to sell himself.

    Which is sad, because I think his more scholarly work stands on its own merit.

    C'est la guerre.
    "Speak English! said the Eaglet. "I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and what's more, I don't believe you do either!"

    The Eaglet from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland

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    Default -adding to the list

    13.) Wars are fought primarily by young, impoverished men who see a steady paycheck with education benefits and an enlistment bonus as a ticket out of desitution.

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    I would be hard pressed if I had to name one guy who I despise more than Ralph Peters. Admittedly, there are times when he sounds quite sane and some of the things he says make a certain amount of sense (like his attitude towards the Saudis).

    But then. When he talks about Europe. It starts.
    All of a sudden, a bottomless pit of prejudice opens up in Mr. Peters. "Europeans have perfected mass extermination", "Europe, this most cruel of continents", "Europe is not to be trusted and will always have to be watched", "'Eurabia' is only a myth, because once the Europeans get really pissed at the Muslims they will probably eradicate them in a second Holocaust", "I could even imagine that US forces will have to secure the Muslims exit from Europe" etc, etc. It is just incredible.

    When you read one of his books, you get the impression that this is a man who perceives the world through a filter of incredibly strong prejudices and generalisations. America is best. Automatically, because it is American. Everything from Europe is automatically...not so good, because it is European. Actually, it is completely disgusting if it has to do with Germany (one of the two countries he hates most of all), or France (apparently the country which he does hate most of all) in particular. Those two nations are the enemy, and he leaves out no chance to heap his neverending scorn on them, wether in his factional or his fictional work.

    This '12 Myths' article is one of his typical works. He presents some nonsensical statements just to blow them out of the water himself.
    Stuff like "war doesn't change anything", "victory is impossible today", "there's no military solution; only negotiations can solve our problems", and "when we fight back, we only provoke our enemies" - who in the world is saying such things?

    The statement "the United States is more hated today than ever before" is presented so that he can state, once more, that the USA is the greatest nation, ever, and that essentially everyone in the world wants a greencard. And the notion that "the Middle East's problems are all America's fault" is brought up so that he can enlighten us about the real culprit - Evil Europe, this most cruel of continents, which apparently deliberately drew the borders of the Middle East with the aim to create the maximum amount of strife and bloodshed for all eternity. Out of sheer malice, of course.

    Now, Ralph Peters is just one man and this warrants the question why it should be so important what this guy thinks. Actually, it is not. But unfortunately, he is not alone, because he and his views seem to be quite popular, especially in the US Armed Forces - and that is a problem, indeed.
    It can only be hoped that his prejudiced way of thinking does not spread.

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