Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- January 5, 2011 (Evening Edition)

FOOT PATROL - U.S. soldiers and Afghan police move out on a foot patrol in the Isa Khan region of Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province, Dec. 28, 2010. The soldiers are assigned to the 10th Mountain Division’s Company A, 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class John Queen

How Little The U.S. Knows Of War -- Richard Cohen, Washington Post

I present you with a paradox. The U.S. Army that fought the Vietnam War was reviled, not spit upon (that's a myth) but not much admired, either. In contrast, the Army of Iraq and Afghanistan is embraced and praised. Yet one was an army of the people, draftees and such, and the other is an army of volunteers, strangers to most of us. What's happening here? The answer, I fear, is a cliche: Familiarity breeds contempt.

That "I fear" in the preceding paragraph is not an artsy pause but a genuine emotion. The Vietnam War Army happened to have been my Army. I was on active duty as a reservist, not for very long but long enough for the Army to have lost all its mystery. I found the Army to be no better and no worse than other large institutions. Some of its leaders were fools, and some soldiers were thieves, and everyone wasted money like there was no tomorrow. This is the truth and everyone once knew it.

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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

And...they're back: The Obamas return from Hawaii, looking vaguely unhappy -- Julie Mason, Washington Examiner

Egypt and the Destruction of Churches -- George Friedman, Real Clear World/Stratfor

When oil prices rise, Russia has freedom over a barrel -- Anne Applebaum, Washington Post

Don't deny detainees their day in court -- Amos N. Guiora and Laurie R. Blank, L.A. Times

What Iranians Really Think -- Abbas Milani, National Interest

Consequences for Belarus -- Washington Post editorial

Flying High in Dubai: Emirates Leaves Rivals in Slipstream -- Dinah Deckstein, Spiegel Online

US Navy’s Indian Ocean Folly? -- James Holmes & Toshi Yoshihara, The Diplomat