That s a moral failing in you. But we can talk about that later, maybe, over the phone with less of a delay. True. Okay. Sounds good. Thank you, my friend. And thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. Very happy to have you here. I am going to tell one very quick iraq story, but i m telling you it s quick, and there s a reason for me to tell it. Um, in 1996, when bill clinton was president, part of northern iraq fell into absolute crisis. The first gulf war had happened, of course, under the previous president, george h. W. Bush. Gulf war 1. In the wake of that war, the kurdish population in iraq had, basically, risen up and revolted against the iraqi dictator, saddam hussein. Saddam responded by crushing them, and millions of kurdish/iraqi fled into the mountains of northern iraq and toward the border with turkey. They were just trying to save themselves and their families. Turkey wouldn t let them cross the border. They really had nowhere else to go inside iraq. Meanwhile, sad
The rachel maddow show starts right now. Good evening, rachel. The good thing about it, though, is even people who are incredibly talented and incredibly nice get tripped up in it. Even though the delay makes you feel like a jerk, when you are patently not a jerk and a very smart person. It still reaches out and grabs you by the ankle. It does. Unavoidable. That s that s exactly right. In fact, you and i are speaking over a delay right now, which makes this exchange hard, a. And, b, i found it weirdly satisfying and delightful that those two lovely people were tripped up because it trips us up, too. That s a moral failing in you. But we can talk about that later, maybe, over the phone with less of a delay. True. Okay. Sounds good. Thank you, my friend. And thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. Very happy to have you here. I am going to tell one very quick iraq story but i am telling you it s quick. And there s a reason for me to tell it. Um, in 1996, when bill clinton was pre
Hussein. He responded by crushing them and millions of kurdish iraqis fled. They fled into the mountains of northern iraq, they were trying to save themselves and their families. Turkey wouldn t let them cross the border, they had nowhere else to go. Saddam was after them in a genocidal of rage. The un ended up setting up what was intended to be a safe zone for the kurds in northern iraq, it was protected by no fly zone. It was an international coalition effort. Lots of groups provided help there to. That inherently unstable situation lasted five years. But, in 1996, bill clinton is now president, saddam attacked and the coalition forces that were protecting the iraqi kurds they backed out, they left. The reasons for that and the consequences of that are dark and complex, and that is a longer story. In the immediate moment in 1996 when that happened, the u. S. Realized that it had a big short term, simple, urgent, moral and strategic catastrophe on their hands. In the five years since
a fellow here at hudson and a director for center of american seapower. i hope you have a monograph, the subject of our discussion today. and if you do not, i believe we still have copies at the front desk. by all means, pick up a copy on your way out. we are very fortunate to have with us today, brian graff, this man, my friend and co-author was also a retired naval officer, formal deputy director for american seapower. a prolific writer and also managing director, it s a national security and defense consultancy. it s also a pleasure to welcome david, this man. also a retired naval officer and defensive uses best writer. i will offer some thoughts based on our monograph. brian will follow. then the three of us will discuss, we will conclude with questions and some answers. to the untrained eye, modern military technology may seem to have eliminated the thought of war that defined pre-modern battlefields. victory in historic conflicts relied on the coincidence of skill and l
director for center of american seapower. i hope you have a monograph, the subject of our discussion today. and if you do not, i believe we still have copies at the front desk. by all means, pick up a copy on your way out. we are very fortunate to have with us today, brian graff, this man, my friend and co-author was also a retired naval officer, formal deputy director for american seapower. a prolific writer and also managing director, it s a national security and defense consultancy. it s also a pleasure to welcome david, this man. also a retired naval officer and defensive uses best writer. i will offer some thoughts based on our monograph. brian will follow. then the three of us will discuss, we will conclude with questions and some answers. to the untrained eye, modern military technology may seem to have eliminated the thought of war that defined pre-modern battlefields. victory in historic conflicts relied on the coincidence of skill and luck. the great commander sough