Michael J. Totten: They Ain�t Studying War No More

On War:

Your boy Kevin Drum is right on [UPDATE: KGC correctly points out that Drum didn't write this; he was merely citing it. The actual author was Heather Hurlburt]:

Many Democrats who came of age during the Vietnam War retain a gut-level distrust of the military. Younger staffers, who may not carry the same psychological baggage, have few mentors urging them toward military or security issues. I speak from experience: My main qualification for my first Washington job -- covering European security for Congress -- was that I could locate the Warsaw Pact countries on a map and correctly identify the acronyms of the relevant international organizations.

But lack of expertise is only a symptom. The malady is an irresponsible lack of interest. The issues that drive most contemporary Democrats into politics are reproductive rights, health care, fiscal policy, or poverty, not national security. Even those young Democrats who are interested in foreign affairs tend to be drawn to 'soft' subjects such as debt relief and human rights. Aspiring foreign policy wonks will often get pulled into military affairs by way of, say, their work on demining. But when these young people visualize exciting jobs in the next Democratic administration, they think State Department, not Pentagon.

I've had a chance to know quite a few Democratic activists. I've never known one who knew, or cared to know, the first thing about military science. Of them all, Sovay is the closest: she's read some books on military history.

The rest of them just sneer.

I know liberals who care about these issues, and who know what they're talking about -- a few of them (Deud, I'm looking at you) post here. But where are they among the ranks of the activists, and the movers of the party?

I just finished saying that ParaPundit is the most convincing voice of the antiwar movement. ParaPundit, however, is a paleoconservative.

If you don't know a refused flank from a Notre Dame Box Formation, how am I supposed to believe you can win a war for us?

Why should I believe you if you say this war is the wrong one?