Correspondence
Correspondence THE COMMANDER GENERAL TOMMY FRANKS and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld both emerge from Fred Barnes's "The Commander" (June 2) as real leaders, and Franks is plainly an...
...In the interview, Powell was emphatic about it...
...Both Rumsfeld and Franks are strong-willed, forceful men, and either could have stymied the other if their wills had been permitted to come into confrontation...
...At the opposite end of the spectrum is the "art" described in deservedly negative terms by Thomas Disch in "Collecting the Uncollectable...
...However, in a recent interview, Powell corrected the interviewer when queried about this, by saying it is not overwhelming force, but rather "decisive force...
...Granted, we are talking about a subtle difference, but it may be important...
...While all of the networks had cameras focused on the Baghdad skyline in anticipation of being "shocked and awed," the coalition was quickly maneuvering from the south, west, east, and to some degree the north...
...Letting the Democrats behave like clowns is not governing...
...The ultimate credit for the combat success we achieved belongs, however, to Dubya...
...The Marine Corps committed 80 percent of its infantry battalions and all of its tank and light armored vehicle battalions...
...As Barnes's article proves, shock and awe was not the big bang theory that the media made it out to be...
...Even the British division was a good-sized force...
...We did go in with overwhelming ground force...
...All letters should be addressed: Correspondence Editor THE WEEKLY STANDARD 1150 17th St., NW, Suite 505 Washington, DC 20036...
...After reading Matt Labash's "The Hardest Job in the Army," I now realize I was wrong...
...With a division normally having 10 line battalions, this is sort of like seven division-equivalents when you consider that airpower substituted for the artillery assets division and corps headquarters would normally provide ground units...
...June 2) against the charge that Strauss was an enemy of liberal democracy...
...But Barnes's article risks enshrining a myth that will come back to haunt us if left uncorrected...
...May 19...
...This article helped me understand what it was like for him, and, I suspect, why, except when he was joking, he had a slightly sad look for the rest of his life...
...But even Franks and Rumsfeld couldn't have won the internecine wars at Fort Fumble without Bush's strong support...
...HARRIET LYONS Waterloo, Canada I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS POSSIBLE for me to be prouder of our military and the way we handled ourselves in Iraq...
...Don't think we could go in with 30 battalions in three divisions and repeat our decisive victory...
...Indeed, prior to the war, www.globalsecu-rity.org listed 70 line battalions deployed to the Gulf...
...First MEF was more than two divisions and maybe almost three divisions strong (depending on whether the percentages refer to active Marines or active and reserve Marines...
...The bulk of Saddam's loyal forces (Republican Guard, Special Republican Guard, and Special Police) was surprised, overwhelmed, and disoriented...
...Note that one subtle difference between overwhelming and decisive is that overwhelming denotes a quantitative superiority, while decisive does not...
...It dates to the 1840s and the struggle over slavery, not to the founding...
...By land, through the air, and over the sea...
...STEVEN G. CALABRESI Professor of Law, Northwestern University Chicago, IL STRAUSSED OUT I APPLAUD Peter Berkowitz's brilliant defense of the late political philosopher Leo Strauss ("What Hath Strauss Wrought...
...our dysfunctional, deadlocked Senate is the legacy of Calhoun and not of Hamilton or Madison...
...Wouldn't it be even better politics to abolish the filibuster of judges and watch the Democrats follow through on their promise to "shut down" the government for the next 18 months...
...Modern-day conservatives should not embrace a dysfunctional Senate: They should reform it...
...WILL CONNELLY Plantation, FL FRED BARNES has produced the most detailed explanation of General Franks's brilliant military planning yet...
...In summary, they never got a chance to organize and fully use all the various weapons and munitions at their disposal...
...He told lots of funny stories about things that happened off duty when he was in the Army, but almost never about his work...
...This ignores the fact that the 1st MEF was not just the 1st Marine Division...
...I believe it can, especially if it continues to improve its intelligence and information-gathering abilities, increases special operational forces, and further refines psychological warfare techniques...
...Sometimes I think General Franks managed a sleight of hand by promising only three divisions to lead the invasion to highlight transformation...
...Berkowitz sees these attacks on Strauss for what they are: attempts to discredit American neoconservative thought by poisoning the well from which many of its ideas sprang—the writings and teachings of Leo Strauss...
...My father was in Graves Registration (what Mortuary Affairs used to be called) during World War II...
...Letters will be edited for length and clarity and must include the writer's name, address, and phone number...
...It's amazing General Franks was able to achieve overwhelming tactical surprise in spite of losing key strategic options...
...KELLEY MURPHY Brooklyn, NY THE WEEKLY STANDARD welcomes letters to the editor...
...CORY ESPINOSA Springfield, MA Fred Barnes rightly gives Army general Franks great credit for the decisive victory in the Iraq war...
...The Framers did not design the Senate filibuster...
...CRAIG D. ROLLE Newton, MA MORTUARY AFFAIRS THANK YOU for Matt Labash's excellent "The Hardest Job in the Army" (May 19...
...Bush's character, strength, and savvy kept that from happening...
...And unlike some other philosophers of the 20th century, Strauss produced ideas that are worth defending and celebrating, as this magazine does regularly...
...I bet the public would really disapprove of that...
...This overlooks that the 3rd ID had four brigades under command (rather than the usual three), that a brigade combat team of the 82nd Airborne Division was there, and that the 101st Airborne was right behind, still unloading...
...Although it wasn't mentioned, I have no doubt Franks was pleased at the media's shock and awe at "shock and awe...
...To list all the remarkable public intellectuals, professors, and public servants taught by Strauss and/or inspired by his writings would be impossible, but it is safe to say that all of Strauss's intellectual heirs—be it Paul Wolfowitz at the Pentagon, Harvey Mansfield at Harvard, or William Kristol at The Weekly Standard—have an unswerving commitment to liberal democracy at home and abroad...
...The Senate filibuster is a product of the evolving Constitution...
...He was in charge of returning personal effects—most of the bodies got buried in Europe, of course...
...Fred Barnes's cover story about General Franks and his Iraq battle plan was one of the best things I've read in years...
...You may also fax letters: (202) 293-4901 or e-mail: editor@weeklystandard.com...
...BRUCE TENNANT Hilton Head, SC ORIGINALIST SIN I AM SURPRISED that a good originalist like Terry Eastland would side with John Calhoun on Senate filibusters and rules changes rather than with James Madison and Alexander Hamilton ("Filibuster Again...
...This is misleading...
...Calhoun had extreme ideas about minority rights—ideas that were not shared by the Framers, who believed in energetic government...
...Now the big question becomes, can the U.S...
...Nothing less than the kind of power they exerted within the Pentagon could have overcome the fierce, nearly subversive, resistance to jointness exercised by wussy generals and admirals who got their stars as turf-conscious politicians, not as warriors...
...He then jammed each one with enough troops to reach the numbers he needed, trusting the Air Force to provide firepower that Army artillery brigades in greater numbers would have provided...
...In the long haul, both Rumsfeld and Franks have contributed powerfully toward the integration of multi-force command and control that is crucial to the success of modern warfare...
...It attributes the concept of "overwhelming force" to Colin Powell, which is typically done...
...BRIAN J. DUNN Ann Arbor, MI FRED BARNES'S article on Tommy Franks is well written and informative, a joy to read...
...And Again...
...That is why there is absolutely no mention of it in The Federalist Papers or in the debates at the Philadelphia Convention where the Constitution was written...
...Now that Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House, it is time to govern...
...Barnes states that the invasion of Iraq kicked off with three divisions—the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, and the British division...
...MIKE CARLINO Fairport, NY SID THE HUMAN FERRET TO CALL SIDNEY BLUMENTHAL "Sid the Human Ferret" ("The Annals of Sid," June 2) is to perform a grave injustice to ferrets and arguably to humans as well...
...It was a concept based on speed, mobility, power, precision, and multiple fronts...
...We all owe the general a huge debt of gratitude...
...He was an accountant, and apparently was chosen for the job because he was immaculate in his record-keeping...
...Correspondence THE COMMANDER GENERAL TOMMY FRANKS and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld both emerge from Fred Barnes's "The Commander" (June 2) as real leaders, and Franks is plainly an ultra-competent warrior...
...One can only hope that the liberal forces still abundantly present in Foggy Bottom do not persuade Bush to abandon the military victory we've won...
...In fact, it is commonplace to hear that "overwhelming force" is the core of the so-called "Powell doctrine...
...The participants in and perpetrators of such nonsense exemplify another not-so-old phrase that is illustrated by the photograph of Marina Abramovic's tree-hug-gers...
...MIKE GRIFFIS High Springs, FL THE OLD PHRASE "From the sublime to the ridiculous" was exemplified to me by two articles in the June 2 issue...
...Strauss's life is a testament to the power of ideas...
...To me they look like a group that "couldn't find their asses with both hands...
...military ever duplicate this feat in the future if it should become necessary...
...More seriously, why not reform the filibuster rules and pass some good legislation on school choice, tort reform, or Social Security privatization...
...Eastland argues that it is good politics to let the Democrats hang themselves by filibustering our judges...
Vol. 8 • June 2003 • No. 39
