The Z Man thinks about Iran

The Z Man has posted his thoughts about Iran on his blog.  It is a well thought out article and worth looking at.  Of course, the Neutralist likes his thoughts because they are essentially his.

He points out with clarity the truth about our MENA involvement, it has been a loser, and whatever else, we need to leave.

In theory, it is not a terrible plan. America needs out of the Muslim world. Whether or not it is a good idea to turn things over to the Persians remains to be seen, but history is on their side. They have been the dominant people in the region for 5,000 years, give or take.

That "history is on their side" is a good way of putting it.  None of the "right" or "wrong" side of history stuff.  No one can completely predict the future though there are some insightful people.

If history is on anyone's side, it is with a people who take the long view.  That is not most of our countrymen and women where two seconds ago is ancient history.

Steven Erlanger saves the French from slavery

But the emotional legacies are different for different countries. For France the war, however bloody, was a necessary response to invasion. Preventing the German Army from reaching Paris in the first battle of the Marne spelled the difference between freedom and slavery. 

The words above were written by an elite journalist in the paper of record.  Mr. Erlanger has punched all the tickets, Harvard, the Times, a shared Pulitzer.  For a writer to conjure up the Gauls as all enchained by Les Boches is absurd.  True, the Germans would not have been gentle, but like after the unpleasantness of the early 1870s, they  would have left.

Oh well, Mr. Erlanger appears to be reliably neocon so not much else can be expected.

After all, when Charlie Thin put up money to help save the Grey Lady, it wasn't to get a quality product.