Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
We’re not done thrashing the Afghanistan disgrace, so we coaxed Michael Anton (the Power Line podcast’s most frequent guest it turns out) to join us for a few quaffs. We use three of his recent articles to launch our discussion, starting with “Afghanistan: Doomed from the Start.” But we use a section from the middle of this essay, on the blunders of our advisers in the Middle East who don’t understand our own Constitution but presumed to advise Iraq and Afghanistan about how to write theirs, to pivot to the crisis here at home.
Along the way, though, Michael has been having some very polite arguments with some of the leading “Paleoconservatives,” who for various reasons didn’t like President Trump’s 1776 Commission that was set up in explicit opposition to the pernicious 1619 Project. From there we have a vigorous argument amongst ourselves about how to think about—and more importantly argue in public about—the place of equality in America, deriving from the famous phrase “All men are created equal.” (The two Anton articles that bear on this are “Could the Founders Have Done Better?“, and “Getting Right with the Founders.”)
And then at the end, we ask Michael when we can expect him to start a full fledged cooking channel on YouTube, since he recently did a boffo sample on preparing a lamb demi-glace, which naturally led to an argument about . . . lamb. Seriously. (Guess what: Lucretia is agin’ it. It figures, doesn’t it?) So for listeners who bear with us all the way through to the end, I have some fitting exit music, though not everyone will get it.
Subscribe to Power Line in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.
This book says the same thing about screwing up Tora Bora. The author was a successful CIA commander in Afghanistan and he was in complete shock that they didn’t have the Rangers set up a blocking position and then just bomb the crap out of Tora Bora. They were down to 200 guys at that point. The other thing is the Taliban that went into Pakistan were the types that wanted to promote world domination. The ones that stayed in Afghanistan just wanted to live in the seventh century.
It would have been a big help to kill all of those guys right there.
Really good book.
I really wish Lucretia would let the guest speak. You shouldnt just steamroll your guest in the way she does repeatedly. You invite them on to let them talk.
Its interviewing 101.
Apparently Bush didnt send in the Ranger battalions cause he didnt want to escalate the war at that point.
Laughable as that now seems.
I thought it was Tommy Franks. It’s so unfortunate. All these guys understand is ruthlessness and force. It would’ve wiped out their nerve center totally.
I forget where I heard this, but we should have put up multiple blocking positions or fronts all the way into Pakistan. I heard somebody talking about it recently.
Agreed. I love her thoughts and input, but you are right that they need to be better held and truncated at times.
On the previous podcast, she even interrupted Steve to apologize for interrupting him so much! So meta…
I thought Lucretia spoke very little this episode. And having heard Anton on other podcasts, he tends to ramble a bit while interviewers are trying to move on so he get’s “talked over” frequently. As far as Lucretia interrupting Steve Hayward, that’s an important part of their schtick.
It would be interesting to know the percentage of field officers by decade who voted R. Obama fired almost 200 generals so I’m sure that conservatives kept quiet if they wanted to advance. I met a four star, General Hyten, in 2016. A colonel who knew him back in the day said that he was brilliant technically. He made snarky comments about Trump and probably fits in with the rest of the JCS.
Where’s the Burke quote?
My podcast may only have 50 watchers, but I have now done over 50 interviews, so I have picked up some things.
An oversight! We’ll make up for it next week, perhaps with this:
I was amused when Steve referred to Thomas Aquinas as Tommy Aquinas.
I had a great-aunt who would not eat lamb because the little lambs were so cute, etc. Try to find a Greek or Melkite church with a food festival. That might change your mind on the lamb. I’m with Mr. Anton on the olives. My daughter-in-law had a semester abroad in Morocco and ended up loving olives because they were so different from what you get in America. Great discussion.
Don’t miss the latest Newt Gingrich podcast about Afghanistan.
Loved “recondite point”!
I should have added that my great-aunt was the matron of the women’s prison. But she wouldn’t eat lamb! Also her excellent cook at the prison had poisoned her husband and children.