Nobody left or right tells it like it is on Afghanistan the way retired U.S army Col. Ralph Peters does in this column.
Do you have a better way of looking at it?
RonRosenbaum.com
PJM HomeRon Rosenbaum
Books
BUY The Shakespeare Wars
Random House, September 2006
Electrifying. A spectacular book.
—Cynthia Ozick
…a thrilling personal confrontation…The Shakespeare Wars comes to us in waves of new revelations
—Billy Collins, former U.S. poet laureate
Acclaimed journalist Ron Rosenbaum wrestles with the weightiest issues of Shakespeare studies in a down-to-earth manner that readers will applaud.
—Publisher’s Weekly
Cultural journalism of the highest order.
—Kirkus Reviews
Timely not least for the economy and clarity with which he outlines the casus belli…with Rosenbaum’s dispatches we now have a better sense of what the fuss is about.
—John Sutherland, The Financial Times
BUY Explaining Hitler
A remarkable journey by one of the most original journalists and writers of our time.
—David Remnick
A work of importance and fascination.
—George Steiner, the [U.K.] Observer
A provacative work of cultural history that is as compelling as it is thoughtful, as readable as it is smart..Mr. Rosenbaum has made an important contribution to our understanding not just of Hitler, but of the cultural processes by which we try to come to terms with history as well... He has written an exciting, lucid book.
—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
Intriguing, thought provoking and intelligent.
—Ian Kershaw in The Guardian [U.k.]
Brilliant...restlessly probing and deeply intelligent.
—Lance Morrow, Time
In Explaining Hitler, profound historical questions spring urgently and hauntingly to life.
—Sam Tanenhaus
Cultural criticism served up as riveting narrative history
—Marc Fisher The Washington Post
BUY The Secret Parts of Fortune
Ron Rosenbaum is one of the great masters of the metaphysical detective story, a nonfiction writer in the spirit of Borges, Nabokov and Poe.
—Errol Morris (director of The Fog of War)
Few journalists inspire the kind of cult following that Rosenbaum has
—Scott McLemee Newsday
I plan on hanging Ron Rosenbaum’s ‘marriage proposal’ [column] in a prominent place. Should my husband begin to take me for granted, he will be reminded that I am not without options.
—Rosanne Cash
You made me look like a f_____g lunatic.
—Oliver Stone
ALSO AVAILABLE (an anthology of others’ work): Those Who Forget the Past: The Question of Anti-Semitism
Bi-weekly Spectator columnist at Slate
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
3 Comments
1. charlie finch:For Peters to say that “the Taliban” are the patriots is just idiotic, I mean, “the SS are the patriots”, “the Khmer Rouge are the patriots”, “the Cheka are the patriots”. Peters has fallen a bit too in love with his Mr. Authority pose.
Oct 28, 2009 - 3:56 pm 2. Jack:I think a good complement to Colonel (Ret.) Peters would be Michael Yon for his reporting.
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/
I’m not sure Yon’s way of looking at it is better, but he is knowledgeable both of the military and the Middle East and has spent extensive time embedded in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
On an aside, Mr Rosenbaum it is nice to see you eschewing the contempt and vitriol. It was worrying for a bit there.
Oct 28, 2009 - 4:41 pm 3. Michael:I believe some 11 people were killed voting In Afghanistan. That Karzai would have engaged in massive fraud in such a circumstance is prima facie evidence that he dose not respect his citizens as others in any sense implied in Buber’s book ‘I Thou’ and thus does not support ‘democracy.’ Also our interest in destroying the opium trade may not be democratically supported. It seems to me that Obama may be appropriately backing us into the cities. From there we can support our interests in interdicting terrorist facilities and give some support to the Afghan people.
Oct 29, 2009 - 11:19 am