And of course, Alexander would have ordered all his generals to forget their wives back home and marry daughters of local chieftans. All this Sunni/Shi'ite nonsense would be solved in one Thanksgiving dinner.
If Bush were Alexander, he would have worn the garb of a local hegemon (would that be an updated dictatorial leisure suit à la Hussein or a throwback to the desert tuxedo, like Alec Guinness in 'Lawrence of Arabia'?).
I think Bush should take Machiavelli's advice from The Prince about conquering new provinces, especially ones that have a different language than your own: Go live there until it is pacified. It shows you're serious, and prevents problems from getting out of hand before you can deal with them.
3:11 AM, June 24, 2006
Anonymous said...
Come on, he's just like Alexander the great: any place he conquers, stays conquered for two years, then falls to pieces!
3:19 AM, June 24, 2006
Great post by digby on Rove, Murtha, and the fawning coverage of Bush’s Iraq visit. A good quote: One of the most infuriating things about the triumphal coverage of the Baghdad trip is the fact that the media didn't seem to think it was noteworthy that after all this time the president (or anybody else) still can't make a planned visit because he can't trust anyone and the situation on the ground is so dangerous. Why that's considered "good news" for him is anyone's guess. Rational people are right to conclude that there has pretty much been no progress since Bush dropped in exactly the same way for that stupid Turkey stunt. By this time we should have been able to have a state visit and a parade.What if three years after conquering Japan, MacArthur could only visit Tokyo for a day at a time via surprise visit? That’s pretty much where we are with Iraq.
posted by Zachary Drake at 9:14 AM on Jun 23, 2006
"Bush: Alexander the Great he is not"
3 Comments -
And of course, Alexander would have ordered all his generals to forget their wives back home and marry daughters of local chieftans. All this Sunni/Shi'ite nonsense would be solved in one Thanksgiving dinner.
If Bush were Alexander, he would have worn the garb of a local hegemon (would that be an updated dictatorial leisure suit à la Hussein or a throwback to the desert tuxedo, like Alec Guinness in 'Lawrence of Arabia'?).
Imagine the fawning press then!
Cheers
5:56 PM, June 23, 2006
I think Bush should take Machiavelli's advice from The Prince about conquering new provinces, especially ones that have a different language than your own: Go live there until it is pacified. It shows you're serious, and prevents problems from getting out of hand before you can deal with them.
3:11 AM, June 24, 2006
Come on, he's just like Alexander the great: any place he conquers, stays conquered for two years, then falls to pieces!
3:19 AM, June 24, 2006