Having already talked about the Battle of Legnica a couple of days ago, we now turn to the Mongols’ other major April 1241 fight, the Battle of Mohi (also referred to as the Battle of the Sajó River) on April 11 (it technically may have begun on April 10, but close enough). If you’ve already read the story of Legnica … Continue reading Today in European history: the Battle of Mohi (1241)
Author: DWD
writer, blogger, lover, fighter
Conflict update: April 8-9 2017
First a note to readers: I'm probably going to take a few days off from writing about current events, unless something major happens while I'm away. Everybody needs a break here and there and I sense I'm approaching that point right now. Plus it's my daughter's spring break week so she'll be home from school, … Continue reading Conflict update: April 8-9 2017
Today in European history: the Battle of Legnica (1241)
The double-envelopment, or pincer movement, is such a tried and true military tactic that the guy who literally wrote the book on war, Sun Tzu, discussed it in his book. It involves, as the name suggests, outflanking an enemy on both sides in order to encircle it completely. Sun Tzu actually argued against employing this tactic, because … Continue reading Today in European history: the Battle of Legnica (1241)
Conflict (i.e., Syria) update: April 7 2017
Most of this post, for reasons that I assume are clear, is going to deal with the ongoing fallout from last night's/this morning's US missile strike on Syria's Shayrat air base. I'll have a handful of updates from other parts of the world tacked on at the end. There's a lot to cover so I'll … Continue reading Conflict (i.e., Syria) update: April 7 2017
Conflict (i.e., Syria) update: April 6 2017
SYRIA Welp. I wrote a fair amount of stuff about the Khan Shaykhun incident this afternoon, some of which I'm going to leave in below even though it might not make complete sense anymore after this evening's developments (I've tried to rewrite it but if anything seems incongruous then understand that it's because I originally wrote it earlier … Continue reading Conflict (i.e., Syria) update: April 6 2017
Conflict update: April 5 2017
SYRIA I've already written most of what I had to write about Syria today, but there are a couple of additional updates. Well, one, really. President Trump spoke in public, which seems inadvisable but I guess you make do with the president you have, and anyway after we spent last week (and, off and on, … Continue reading Conflict update: April 5 2017
What’s the use
The UN Security Council met today in special session today to discuss yesterday's chemical weapons incident in the Syrian town of Khan Shaykhun, the death toll from which is now up to at least 72. Nothing came of it, because the UN Security Council is set up, pretty much by design, to do nothing on … Continue reading What’s the use
NEEDED: Better Quality Lies
The White House fired Steve Bannon today. Well, not totally. He was removed from his controversial and wholly unwarranted seat on the National Security Council. Bannon has no, as in none, as in zero qualifications to sit on the NSC apart from the fact that he sets the white nationalist, xenophobic, anti-Islam agenda for the … Continue reading NEEDED: Better Quality Lies
Conflict update: April 4 2017
SYRIA According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 58 people (one estimate puts the toll over 100) were killed today in what certainly seems to have been a chemical weapons attack on the town of the town of Khan Shaykhun in Idlib province. Doctors treating the victims described people suffocating, vomiting, foaming … Continue reading Conflict update: April 4 2017
Last week in Middle Eastern history: the First Battle of Gaza (1917)
Two Sundays ago, March 26, marked the 100th anniversary of the First Battle of Gaza, a small and, to be honest, fairly inconsequential affair (the Second Battle of Gaza was fought less than a month later, so clearly neither side expended itself this time around) that is nonetheless interesting in that what could have been … Continue reading Last week in Middle Eastern history: the First Battle of Gaza (1917)
The Foreign Exchanges Companion 