Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Macbeth and the occupation of Iraq

The other night I went to see Dunsinane, a play about the English occupation of Scotland after the death of Macbeth.

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Best Defense is in summer re-runs. This item originally appeared on February 10, 2015.

Best Defense is in summer re-runs. This item originally appeared on February 10, 2015.

The other night I went to see Dunsinane, a play about the English occupation of Scotland after the death of Macbeth. It was really good. And to my surprise, it is one of the best works of art I have seen on the American occupation of Iraq. As a Scottish officer working with the British was describing the clan affiliations and networks of Scottish loyalty, I began thinking of Anbar province — which I think was the intention.

Also, to my surprise, I found Lady Macbeth a much more interesting character in this play than in Shakespeare’s. She is presented as the real power in Scotland, even when Macbeth was alive. In this play, she enters each major scene as the weak hand, and emerges the stronger.

It is playing in downtown D.C. until Feb. 21.

John Singer Sargent

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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