Moises Naim Quotes
Wars are hard to exit. Once a war against poverty, crime, or terrorism is launched. Announcing a unilateral truce is usually political suicide. Presidents get boxed into absolutist policies in which compromise is impossible and victory is the only acceptable outcome.
Labeling an initiative a “war” has generally been mistake for the reason suggested in this quotation. The American public expectation is that wars, once begun, must be won! Not compromised.
Moises Naim, Editor of Foreign Policy, “Mixed Metaphors”, Foreign Policy, March/April, 2010
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Lincoln was depressed when the Union had over 30,000 casualties in a two-week time.
Ever since the end of WWII, no major war has been fought where there has been a classic victory where one nation is conquered by another and there is a surrender. Many of the wars have been fought against non-state actors or our war aim is a regime change or the establishment of a more friendly government. We have no desire to occupy the countries generally, and there is often no one “in charge” of the enemy who can even surrender. Bruce was referring to the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War. In each case, despite the lack of a surrender document, it can be said that America won both of these wars initially and then had great trouble with the occupation, the nation building, and keeping the peace. In Iraq and Afghanistan we suffered almost no casualties in the initial invasions. The occupation and “peace” is where we suffered almost all of our casualties.
Charles Wilkes, a Union Navy Captain enforcing the naval blockade of the South, intercepted a British mail ship in the Caribbean and discovered two Confederate diplomats on board. He took them into custody to the cheers of Congress. England, however, was outraged that passengers—diplomats—on one of their ships was seized after boarding. This was technically an act of war. Abraham Lincoln, to the distress of many in Congress ordered the Confederate diplomats released explaining with this quotation.
Moisés Naím is a Venezuelan journalist and writer. He is a Distinguished Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In 2013, the British magazine Prospect listed Naím as one of the world's leading thinkers. In 2014 and 2015, Dr. Naím was ranked among the top 100 influential global thought leaders by Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute (GDI) for his book The End of Power. "The End of Power" was also selected as the first book for followers of Mark Zuckerberg's 2015 book club to read.
