is, the sooner it will be over.

War is the remedy our enemies have chosen, and I say let us given all they want.

Sherman's take on the War Between the States. Sherman was Grant's favorite subordinate, and Lincoln was Grant's favorite general.

Shall we return to the Lincoln way of war?

Stop-truth-decay:

is, the sooner it will be over. War is the remedy our enemies have chosen, and I say let us given all they want. Sherman's take on the War Between the States. Sherman was Grant's favorite subordinate, and Lincoln was Grant's favorite general. Shall we return to the Lincoln way of war?

Why argue with success?

Reasoning by slogan is not all that thoughtful. Both Sherman and Grant could show utter ruthlessness in the field or charity depending on the needs at hand. What we need is to update the rules that the military operates under and to criminalize higher-ups who ignore the laws in place. Congress should take a serious measured look and act, both to update POW treatment laws and to ensure no political potentate again feels free to preempt them: that takes criminalization.

The writer is thoroughly confused. If "cruelty" won wars, then it is a blanket justification for all atrocities,on both sides . Let us remember that Germany defeated Russia in WW1; I believe the main reason they did not in 1941 is that they adopted the "cruel to be kind" theory to the point where Russians saw no reason at all to surrender, civilians and soldiers alike. As for the Sherman's march theory of war, it set a precedent for the Nazis to use, as well as the Jihadis. As for the idea that our "enemies" have started all this, that is a pathetic delusion, but a common one. The fact is that they are not soldiers, many of them have no "country " to speak of, and we have utterly failed to provide any sort of forum where they might register their ("fanatic") complaints at to religious desecrations, etc. disigny

I'd phase a couple of your points differently: Russia collapsed in WWI before Germany did. I suppose outlasting is a better description than defeating. I would not say that the Nazi treatment of conquered peoples as "cruel to be kind," but instead racial enslavement. Those the Nazis considered inferior races were to be expunged from the Nazi empire after exploitation as slave labor. Those who the Nazis regarded as racially equal were to be just temporarily enslaved as laborers for the war effort.

Of course, this doesn't affect your conclusion that Nazi attrocities hardened Soviet will to resist. Not so much in Russia but in the Ukraine, Georgia and Belerus. Hitler might have liberated allies, but instead conducted Mongel raids on inferior Slavic beings who had no choice but to fight him.

I think the most pertainent precedents for our current enemies is not Sherman but Mao, Tito and the Algerian rebels of the 1950s, all of whom used terror to subdue a people.Bin Laden's attack on the West are tactical. His strategic goal is to govern the Islamic Middle East.