Having made several attempts, on American Spectator Online, to make sense of this interminable, albeit exciting, election, I have been chastened by events throughout its unpredictable twists and turns. Thirty days out from the election, with the end game now…

Once in a while, not often, you stumble across a statement or quote from some person of prominence that startles, cuts through the fog, and smashes your mind against the wall of reality, a reality that you really did not…

"American success or failure in Iraq may well depend on whether the Iraqis (as the people are called) like American soldiers or not. It may not be quite that simple. But then again it could." – from a "pocket guide" prepared by the Special Service Division of the Army Service Forces, U.S. Army, 1943

Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, Commanding General, III Corps, has come home after another tour of Iraq. By some estimates his time in that theatre exceeds that of any World War II general which, in and of itself, is indicative of the challenges over there.

This homecoming brings with it much praise for his leadership in implementing the counterinsurgency doctrines developed by General David H. Petraeus and set out in the new Counterinsurgency Field Manual. The implementation of these ideas, along with the surge of additional boots on the ground, proved to be more successful in reducing violence and casualties than many of us had imagined given the carnage and chaos then extant.

"It is not unfair to say that in 2003 most Army officers knew more about the U.S. Civil War than they did about counterinsurgency," claims Lieutenant Colonel John A. Nagl, a veteran of both Iraq wars and author of the highly praised Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam (2005). Nagl was a member of the writing team of the new Manual for which he wrote the Forward for the University of Chicago Press edition.

Generals David Petraeus and Raymond Odierno, along with the inimitable Col. H.R. McMaster, author of the Vietnam classic Dereliction of Duty, have worked hard to overcome the loss of institutional memory of irregular or counterinsurgency warfare which may have been misplaced during the great Cold War stand-off between the United States and the Soviet Union.

General Odierno's accomplishments have even caused at least two analysts to christen him "The Patton of Counterinsurgency," an explicit reference to the late, "hard-charging" general's relationship to the "diplomatic" Eisenhower.

What is interesting, even compelling, about General Odierno's triumphant return is that it may signify a very real turnaround from his prior reputation as a commander who acted contrary to the tenets of counterinsurgency doctrine. The Washington Post's headline for a recent story on Odierno reads, "Evolution of a U.S. General in Iraq. No. 2 Commander Transformed Tactics."

Upon checking into a hotel — a Marriott, say — I often wonder if the owners of the establishment patronize the same kind of "adult" movies in their family homes which they routinely offer to the anonymous traveler.

I still…

Rudy Giuliani could be the death knell of the Reagan Coalition, that successful alliance of economic, defense, and social conservatives forged in the 1976 Republican primary.

In his insurgent campaign against President Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan built the architecture for a…

The challenge of reconciling the socially conservative and economic-libertarian wings of conservatism and the Republican Party has garnered a lot of attention in print as well as on this website.  [Editor's note: Please see the comments by readers under this…

As a third-generation Republican, I fear for the fate of my party and the possibility that it may cease to be an effective political force by the end of the next election cycle. Why? Because of its inability to face…

I knew it was coming. With all the demands on our military worldwide and the ascendancy of feminist thinking in the Pentagon and political establishments, it was only a matter of time that someone would propose drafting my daughters.

Given that…

Americans need to recall the wise and prudent teachings of George Washington, America’s premier founder in war and peace, before they embrace an aggressive, interventionist foreign policy, far removed from that proffered by our first president.

Going well beyond the wholesome…

Summer lovin’, had me a blast
Summer lovin’, happened so fast
Met a girl crazy for me
Met a boy cute as can be
Summer days drifting away
To, uh oh, those summer nights

Recalling Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in Grease singing this ballad of teenage…