Books reviews, current events, and other musings

 
The Washington Monthly has an interesting analysis of the situation in Iraq (from Talking Points Memo). It boils down to the observation that the US sent in enough troops to win the war, but not enough to keep the peace. Some basic statistics prove this point quite succintly:

At the height of the war, the United States and the United Kingdom had just 90,000 combat troops in the country... NATO initially sent 60,000 soldiers into Bosnia... NATO quickly deployed a force of nearly 50,000 troops to the tiny province [Kosovo] that is roughly 1/40 the size of Iraq.

From this perspective, it's clear why Iraq remains in such a state of chaos and why the military was unable to secure so many important sites. There simply aren't enough troops there to take care of everything. That being the case, Iraq's future prospects are very discouraging.

On a personal note, today is the one-year anniversary of Julian's Jabberings, which I didn't realize until I received a couple of hits from the birthday blog page of Eatonweb portal. Though I haven't taken it too seriously, keeping a blog has been a rewarding hobby.
posted by Julian at 9:40 PM

 
Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men is a fictionalized biography of Louisiana governor Huey "Kingfish" Long. Long was a political powerhouse who struggled to improve the well-being of the poorer constituents, while acting ruthlessly against anyone who opposed his wishes. Willie Stark, the governor in the novel, evolves from an idealist to a demagogue.

Jack Burden, a journalist who becomes one of Stark's chief aides, narrates several plotlines, which gradually converge at the book proceeds. Jack investigates the past of Judge Irwin, an important figure from Jack's childhood who crosses the governor. Jack recalls a historical investigation of his great-uncle's life, which he performed as his doctoral research in history. Warren spends a while discussing Jack's childhood sweetheart and her brother, who play important roles the present-day story. And, of course, Jack describes the rise and leadership of Willie Stark.

Warren's distinctive writing style is often entertaining:

The second day I was in Texas. I was traveling through the part where the flat-footed bilious, frog-sticker-toting Baptist biscuit-eaters live.

At other times, the long descriptions of temperaments and settings becomes monotonous. Still, there was enough happening to hold my attention.

Warren paints a detailed picture of political life in the 1930's. I wonder how well it reflects the modern-day situation; the internal contradictions of a politician are clearly still relevant. The various stories come together nicely, without the destination being obvious. Burden's character remains a bit amorphous, observing and judging everyone while trying, unsuccessfully, to stay above it all.

Overall, All the King's Men is one of the better novels that I've read in a while.
posted by Julian at 10:10 PM