Clearboard to the Rhine

The Protracted Conflict

WE all know that when the time draws near for Congress to make its annual decision on the Pentagon’s budget, dire warnings about the increased strength of our potential enemies never fail to make a conspicuous appearance. These warnings may conceivably be as accurate as they are alarming, but their timing and, in many cases, their relation to the self-interest of their sponsors inevitably prompt a certain skepticism in assessing their cogency. This spring, however, something new, and less easy to dismiss with an ad hominem shrug, has been added.

JB

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James Burnham

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The Protracted Conflict

WE all know that when the time draws near for Congress to make its annual decision on the Pentagon’s budget, dire warnings about the increased strength of our potential enemies never fail to make a conspicuous appearance. These warnings may conceivably be as accurate as they are alarming, but their timing and, in many cases, their relation to the self-interest of their sponsors inevitably prompt a certain skepticism in assessing their cogency. This spring, however, something new, and less easy to dismiss with an ad hominem shrug, has been added.