-Poul Anderson, The People Of The Wind IN Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, March 2011), pp. 437-662 AT I, p. 437.
That is the opening paragraph of the novel.
"'-Sir, we may be on the edge of a real war.'"
-Poul Anderson, The Game Of Empire IN Anderson, Flandry's Legacy (Riverdale, NY, June 2012), pp. 189-453 AT CHAPTER ONE, p. 215.
That is the closing sentence of the opening chapter of the novel.
There can be a sense of excitement at the beginning of a war. Things are going to change, maybe for the better. There can certainly be excitement in reading about a, real or fictional, war. In these two novels, as in Mirkheim, Anderson vividly conveys a sense of what it is like to live in troubled times.
We have got used to living in a world where wars happen somewhere else, not here. Or in history or fiction. Now, Iran might attack US bases in Britain.
"Any day we may be at war. We may already be..."
"...we may be on the edge of a real war."
Fiction reflects life.
11 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
That loathsome Muslim theocracy in Iran would far rather attack the US and kill as many Americans as indiscriminately as possible. Nor would jihadist fanatics care how many Iranians might die when the US struck back. Their theology teaches all who die in jihad will go to the paradise Mohammed promised them.
Any attacks on US forces based in the UK would also be attacks on Great Britain. Even a feeble and feckless Labour gov't would have to strike back as best it could, despite the UK's armed forces being far weaker than it should be.
My view remains that the murderous theocracy in Iran needs to be destroyed.
Ad astra! Sean
Yes.
Maybe a competent POTUS could have helped the Iranians who don't like the mullahs to overthrow that regime, rather than driving them into supporting the mullahs by indiscriminate bombing.
Jim,
I agree that the Iranians need to overthrow their regime but I am sure that a POTUS cannot help them to do that! They need a government that serves their interests, not one that is merely either pro- or anti-US.
Paul.
Kaor, Jim and Paul!
Jim: Except the only source where reasonably competent US Presidents might be found is the Republican party. Certainly not the horrible Democrats, whose party has become more and more disgusting over the past 60 plus years. The only Democrat I can think of who might be a tolerable President being Josh Shapiro, Governor of Pennsylvania. And the sane views and policies he favors enrages the jihadist sympathizers and radical leftists taking over the party.
You are also overlooking how the only thing the theocracy/IRGC respects is force. It's also incorrect to imply the US has indiscriminately bombed Iran. If anything, the US has been too restrained, not destroying targets which are legitimate objects of attack in war.
Paul: Your hopes are unrealistic. First, you are ignoring how, as long as the Tehran regime controls the IRGC there is no realistic prospect of the ayatollahs being overthrown. Their "interests" is to survive, cling to power, and continue to wage jihad once, as they hope, the pressure is taken off them. Muslim fanaticism really does drive a hard core of the most resolute jihadists. Third, the only external Power which can impose overwhelming pressure on the theocracy is the US.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Yet again, I am not ignoring anything but disagreeing with you about it! Iranian workers overthrew the Shah and can overthrow the present regime. Regimes are overthrown from within, not from without. Changes are necessary in the US and the UK as well!
Democrats but not Republicans are disgusting? The latter are led by Trump!
Paul.
More can be said about this, of course, and will be if this exchange continues but my immediate point is not that I expect you to accept a word that I say (!) but only that you must surely acknowledge that (i) many people oppose US military interventions in the Middle East and that (ii) they have reasons for what they say on this issue. If there is not even an acknowledgement of (ii), then we are hardly communicating.
Kaor, Paul!
I don't care about those oil workers, because many of them were Muslims hopped up on Shia millennialism perfectly willing to accept the rule of Khomeini and his gang.
The best changes for the US/UK includes the total rejection of catastrophic leftist ideas about politics, economics, society, human beings, etc.
You keep dragging up Trump--I'll retort by listing how the Democrats have bunglers and idiiots like "Josip," Kamala Harris, Chuck Schumer, Gavin Newsom, Bernie Sanders, and the antisemenitic Mamdani as mayor of NYC.
Nor do I care about those who oppose US military interventions, not if they are going to wage on America, as the Tehran theocracy has been doing since 1979. Their attacks and provocations were going to eventually get a fierce response from somebody. And I despise their "reasons," based as they are on Muslim theology and hatred of all who reject Islam.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Don't care again? That is the wrong attitude to fellow human beings! Of course many of them were Muslims. I care about Muslims, Christians etc. Many of them were secularists but the clergy hijacked the workers' gains.
The best chance for the US/UK includes the total rejection of catastrophic rightist ideas about politics, economics, society, human beings etc.
MANY people oppose US military interventions. They are not all those who are going to wage war on America. I have just emailed you a relevant link. How has Tehran waged war since '79? And, whatever they have been doing, how does this justify the recent military attack on Iran by the US and Israel?
I keep dragging up Trump? What else should I do with the guy? He provoked a riot in which people were killed and he has not been prosecuted or imprisoned for it. He denies the result of any election that he loses but has never been able to prove vote rigging. No evidence whatsoever. He is an enemy of democracy. Whether the other party also has bunglers and idiots is just not the point but you know that, surely?
Mandami is not antisemitic. That is just a smear of anyone who is anti-Zionist. But we have said all this before, of course.
You do know that conflicts of this sort will not be resolved by arguments like this?
Despise? "...hatred of all who reject Islam"? I am not defending that theocracy. But your remarks seem to be full of hatred.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
No, that "don't care" is the right attitude. My people, my country, my civilization comes first. And Commander Abrams would agree, as he said to Dominic Flandry in ENSIGN FLANDRY, because the few institutions/people who deserve love/loyalty should come first.
Those Iranians secularists underestimated Khomeini and his gang, and paid for it by sent to the wall.
Those catastrophic ideas are leftist ones.
If you can't understand or accept that the jihadists ruling Iran are motivated by hatred of the US as a major barrier to their ambitions, I see no use in continuing this discussion. I will refer yet again to Andrew McCarthy's book THE GRAND JIHAD, which explores this in detail, including a detailed discussion of the Muslim theology of jihad. McCarthy was one of the prosecutors of the Blind Sheikh's attempt to destroy the World Trade Center in 1993. The investigation of the crime got him interested in Islamic theology and jihadism.
Denied, Mamdani is a Jew hating bigot.
I made some effort to study Islam, starting as long ago as 1988-89 when I read Dawood's translation of the Koran. And going on to read serious books like Wolfson's THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE KALAM. Everything I read led me to conclude Anson Guthrie was right Mohammed was one of the worst disasters inflicted on mankind.
Not "hate," but anger, even fierce anger, at fanatics who would have no hesitation killing me and all who reject their jihadist vision of a world-wide Muslim caliphate.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
This is not a discussion but a succession of denials and denunciations.
I do not deny that jihadists hate the US. I quoted ironically to highlight that I think that your remarks express a lot of hate!
I deny that Mamdani is a Jew-hating bigot. (This is not a discussion but...)
Yes, hate.
I sent you a link to a video which shows that the Western powers kill those who oppose them.
Jihads, Crusades and the Inquisition were all disasters.
Can we try to upwards towards the light instead of downwards towards more and more denial and "fierce anger"?
Paul.
move
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