On the sixtieth anniversary of the invasion of Okinawa, Victor Davis Hanson offers some lessons from that experience:

For all the horror, stupidity — and sheer courage — of the campaign, American firepower, training, adaptability and bravery prove eventually a match for zealots and suicide bombers, whether on Okinawa or in Fallujah.

For all the talk of the softness and decadence of modern Western man — whether the hot-rodders and soda jerks of the late 1930s or our own Jasons and Jeremys with rings in their ears and peroxide hair — the free American soldier proves far more lethal than those who blow themselves up.

I'm reminded of the quotation at the beginning (or is it the end? It's been a long time) of the movie western Unforgiven, which describes the soul of the American as a stoic and a killer. Not a very flattering description, but one that should warn wannabe enemies of America to not underestimate us. There lingers in the American soul the spark of the Spartans.

velqgx gbkvrui gxhaujopl rjkle drzyvxhnl qedps ritan