Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Dueling Libya quotes of the day

Here are two quotes of the day, both from Andrew Roberts’  Masters and Commanders: How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941-1945 (about FDR, Churchill, Marshall and Brooke), which I was reading on my flight across the country on Friday while some of you hijacked the blog. For those opposing intervention: "This Libyan ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons

Here are two quotes of the day, both from Andrew Roberts'  Masters and Commanders: How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941-1945 (about FDR, Churchill, Marshall and Brooke), which I was reading on my flight across the country on Friday while some of you hijacked the blog.

Here are two quotes of the day, both from Andrew Roberts’  Masters and Commanders: How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941-1945 (about FDR, Churchill, Marshall and Brooke), which I was reading on my flight across the country on Friday while some of you hijacked the blog.

For those opposing intervention: "This Libyan ‘ fiasco’  is the immediate problem. Winston is very depressed. He had built so many hopes on this offensive."-British war planner Sir John Kennedy, 1941

For those favoring intervention: "I thought of giving up cigars till we were back in Benghazi."-Winston Churchill, October 1942

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

Read More On Arab Spring | Libya

More from Foreign Policy

The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.
The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose

Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.
A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy

The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.
Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now

In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.
U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet

As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.