Books, Arts & Manners: Put Out Fewer Flags

The Pentagon and the Art of War, by Edward N. Luttwak (Simon & Schuster, 333 pp., $17.95)

In the midst of the general euphoria that accompanied the successful action in Grenada by American forces, there remained a suspicion that the invasion should have been pulled off more easily. Similarly, during the political debate that developed out of the disastrous bombing of the Marine headquarters in Beirut, even those who defended the appropriateness of the exercise of American military power in the Middle East could not help wondering what had gone wrong. Dismay at the bungled attempt to rescue the hostages in Iran also ought to have prompted speculation that something was amiss in our military forces.

JM

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John P. McCarthy

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The Pentagon and the Art of War, by Edward N. Luttwak (Simon & Schuster, 333 pp., $17.95)

In the midst of the general euphoria that accompanied the successful action in Grenada by American forces, there remained a suspicion that the invasion should have been pulled off more easily. Similarly, during the political debate that developed out of the disastrous bombing of the Marine headquarters in Beirut, even those who defended the appropriateness of the exercise of American military power in the Middle East could not help wondering what had gone wrong. Dismay at the bungled attempt to rescue the hostages in Iran also ought to have prompted speculation that something was amiss in our military forces.