The Dangerous Dog Days Of Summer

by Victor Davis Hanson - August 26th, 2010 - National Review

The combination of provocative rivals abroad, our president’s constant assurances that the United States has been at fault in the past and wants to reach out to enemies in the future, and probable defense reductions should remind us to tread carefully this late summer.

Unfortunately, the past guns of August teach us that war may be looking for those who are not looking for war.

Giving away the point in the concluding paragraphs of this article by the brilliant historian Victor Davis Hanson does not change the need for all Americans to read the entire article. It is only the obvious wisdom of those who understand and heed history. Which is why everyone should read the article to follow Hanson's logic about our current situation. The world is inching towards a war that will change all of our lives. Too many years of success in avoiding war has allowed people to forget how we did it. "Peace just happens" is the view of far too many who have not paid attention. Constant preparedness during the cold war, and especially the super preparedness of the Ronald Reagan years, has allowed some to decide war is passe'. It can't happen again seems to be the modern belief of our progressive leaders.

Time and again throughout human history people have learned the lesson that war is not over because you want it to be. Allowing Obama and the Democrats to shut down our own nuclear program and reduce our military to save money for social programs - is shortsighted and delusional. Throughout history those who have decided "We ain't gonna practice war no more" have learned the bitter lesson that it is not a unilateral decision. More often it ends when the pacifists become the victims of a bloodbath. That is where we are headed.