"Under National Socialism you looked in the mirror and saw your soul. You found yourself out... We all discovered, or helplessly revealed, who we were"Under National Socialism you looked in the mirror and saw your soul. You found yourself out... We all discovered, or helplessly revealed, who we were. Who somebody really was. That was the zone of interest."
"Hier ist kein warum" (there is no why here).
One of those rare books that haunts and changes you....more
Hard not to read this and think that it's applicable all over again. If only people learned from history...One of my favorite quotes was this: "I thinHard not to read this and think that it's applicable all over again. If only people learned from history...One of my favorite quotes was this: "I think we cannot let the officials of the Executive Branch determine for us what it is that the public needs to know about how well and how they are discharging their functions..."
Hands down one of the best books on Iraq/Afghanistan I've read. I would actually like to meet Mr. Gates and shake his hand for his service. Gates has Hands down one of the best books on Iraq/Afghanistan I've read. I would actually like to meet Mr. Gates and shake his hand for his service. Gates has an incredibly rare and unique perspective on "Bush 43" and Obama. He comes across as remarkably honest, willing to admit to his own mistakes and shortcomings. The last chapter of the book, entitled "Reflections" has many important insights and should be required reading.
His evisceration of Congress seems spot on: "Uncivil, incompetent in fulfilling basic constitutional responsibilities (such as timely appropriations), micromanagerial, parochial, hypocritical, egotistical, thin-skinned, often putting self (and reelection) before country--this was my view of the majority of the United States Congress."
Speaking of the polarization paralyzing government: "we have rarely been so polarized, and so unable to execute even the basic functions of government...Progress in America historically has come from thinkers and ideologues on both the left and the right, but the best of those ideas have been enacted into law through compromise. Now moderation is equated with lacking principles, and compromise with 'selling out.'"
And finally on war: "Wars are a lot easier to get into than out of...Look askance at idealized, triumphalist, or ethnocentric notions of future conflict that aspire to upend the immutable principles of war...'no matter how a war starts, it ends in mud.'"
The premise and episodes examined were quite interesting. I didn't care for the writing style.The premise and episodes examined were quite interesting. I didn't care for the writing style....more
Very interesting and relevant discussion of technology and war. Lots of frightening aspects that we're rushing headlong into, without much thought of Very interesting and relevant discussion of technology and war. Lots of frightening aspects that we're rushing headlong into, without much thought of what the world is going to be like as a result of all this. I think the most frightening part is that the less skin we have in the game, the more likely we are to continue to have war. War should have risk involved and loss, and cost. It should give us pause, encourage debate and questions about when and why we should go to war. I fear that in our rush to embrace technology that "saves soldiers' lives" we may win the battle but lose the real war....more
I heard about this book on Radio West, a local NPR program, the week we returned from our trip to Europe where we'd visited Dachau. So it was very timI heard about this book on Radio West, a local NPR program, the week we returned from our trip to Europe where we'd visited Dachau. So it was very timely. I wish I'd known about this book prior to going as it would have greatly deepened my experience there. This is an incredible piece of research. I think there are nearly 150 pages of notes, and somewhere around 50 pages of bibliography. I can't imagine the effort required to pull this work together from such a wide-ranging variety of sources. A must-read if you're interested in the topic. ...more
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