2011_05_02postal_cover61404-postal.qxd 4/12/2011 7:40 PM Page 1 May 2, 2011 49145 $4.99 ROB LONG on Donald Trump Ryan’s New Deal JAMES C. CAPRET TA w RAMESH PONNURU $4.99 REIHAN SALAM w THE EDITORS 18 0 74820 08155 6 www.nationalreview.com BIE_milliken-mar 22.qxd 3/25/2011 1:57 PM Page 1 toc_QXP-1127940144.qxp 4/13/2011 1:37 PM Page 1 Contents MAY 2, 2011 | VOLUME LXIII, NO. 8 | www.nationalreview.com ON THE COVER Page 30 Ryan’s Medicare Fix Robert Costa on Wisconsin Of all the reforms in Rep. Paul Ryan’s p. 18 2012 budget, none is more politically charged than the proposal to transform BOOKS, ARTS Medicare into a “defined contribution” & MANNERS program with a fixed and predictable 45 A JUST WAR budget. “Radical.” “Extreme.” “Cruel.” Andrew Roberts reviews Moral Don’t expect the demagoguery to end Combat: Good and Evil in World War II, by Michael Burleigh. before November 2012. James C. Capretta 50 EASTERN LIGHT COVER: THOMAS REIS John Derbyshire reviews The House of Wisdom: How Arabic ARTICLES Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the 18 HOW WISCONSIN WAS WON by Robert Costa Renaissance, by Jim al-Khalili. A close call in a proxy war with the Left. 51 THE PEOPLE’S MILITARY 22 A VICTORY—AND A WARNING by Henry Olsen Thomas M. Donnelly reviews U.S. Some worrisome trends are evident in Judge Prosser’s reelection. Civil-Military Relations After 9/11: Renegotiating the Civil- 24 TRIAL BY FIRE by Anthony Daniels Military Bargain, by Mackubin The world reacts to a Koran-burning. Thomas Owens. 25 VOICE OF THE RESISTANCE by Jay Nordlinger 53 SHADOW FIGHTS Dr. Óscar Biscet, in Cuba’s prisons for twelve years, speaks. Anthony Paletta reviews An Army of Phantoms: American Movies 27 PRESIDENT ME by Rob Long and the Making of the Cold Imagining a Trump administration. War, by J. Hoberman. 55 CITY DESK: COOL TOMBS FEATURES Richard Brookhiser muses over graveyards. 30 PAUL RYAN’S MEDICARE FIX by James C. Capretta How to improve health care and shore up the federal budget with one entitlement reform. SECTIONS 34 RYAN VS. THE MYTHMAKERS by Ramesh Ponnuru Spurious claims, debunked. 2 Letters to the Editor 6 The Week 37 BLAME THE NOT-TOO-RICH by Reihan Salam 42 The Long View . Rob Long Why Obama courts the upper middle class. 43 The Bent Pin . Florence King 44 Athwart . James Lileks 39 A NATION OF SHARECROPPERS by Kevin D. Williamson 52 Poetry . Daniel Mark Epstein From slavery to six figures. 56 Happy Warrior . Mark Steyn NATIONAL RevIeW (ISSN: 0028-0038) is published bi-weekly, except for the first issue in January, by NATIONAL RevIeW, Inc., at 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. © National Review, Inc., 2011. Address all editorial mail, manuscripts, letters to the editor, etc., to editorial Dept., NATIONAL RevIeW, 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. Address all subscription mail orders, changes of address, undeliverable copies, etc., to NATIONAL RevIeW, Circulation Dept., P. O. Box 433015, Palm Coast, Fla. 32143-3015; phone, 386-246-0118, Monday–Friday, 8:00 A.M. to 10:30 P.M. eastern time. Adjustment requests should be accompanied by a current mailing label or facsimile. Direct classified advertising inquiries to: Classifieds Dept., NATIONAL RevIeW, 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016 or call 212-679- 7330. POSTMASTeR: Send address changes to NATIONAL RevIeW, Circulation Dept., P. O. Box 433015, Palm Coast, Fla. 32143-3015. Printed in the U.S.A. RATeS: $59.00 a year (24 issues). Add $21.50 for Canada and other foreign subscriptions, per year. (All payments in U.S. currency.) The editors cannot be responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork unless return postage or, better, a stamped self-addressed envelope is enclosed. Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors. letters5-2--ready_QXP-1127940387.qxp 4/13/2011 1:35 PM Page 2 Letters MAY 2 ISSUE; PRINTED APRIL 14 Rebutting Garfinkle EDITOR The premise of Adam Garfinkle’s review of Donald Rumsfeld’s memoir Known Richard Lowry and Unknown (April 4, 2011) is that Rumsfeld evades responsibility for large mat- Senior Editors ters that did not go well by accepting responsibility for small matters that did not Richard Brookhiser / Jay Nordlinger Ramesh Ponnuru / David Pryce-Jones go well. To bolster this, Garfinkle mentions an incident in which I was supposedly Managing Editor Jason Lee Steorts involved. He writes that I “spoke with the secretary by phone” from Baghdad on Literary Editor Michael Potemra Executive Editor Christopher McEvoy the evening before the decision to disband the Iraqi army was announced. Garfinkle National Correspondent John J. Miller Political Reporter Robert Costa presents this as one piece of evidence that “Rumsfeld knew what was happening Art Director Luba Kolomytseva and approved it, without telling the president, Rice, or any other principal,” which Deputy Managing Editors Fred Schwarz / Kevin D. Williamson Garfinkle alleges that Rumsfeld denies in his memoir. Associate Editors Memory is a tricky thing. I do not remember the conversation that Mr. Garfinkle Helen Rittelmeyer / Robert VerBruggen Research Director Katherine Connell recounts. Beyond this, though, Garfinkle’s review approximates the offense of Research Manager Dorothy McCartney which he accuses his subject, by missing the rich forest of Rumsfeld’s life and Executive Secretary Frances Bronson Assistant to the Editor Christeleny Frangos focusing on the trees right in front of him. Contributing Editors I acknowledge my own lack of distance and Robert H. Bork / John Derbyshire Ross Douthat / Rod Dreher / David Frum ob jectivity. I had a close association with Rums - Roman Genn / Jim Geraghty / Jonah Goldberg feld during the Bush administration and since; he Florence King / Lawrence Kudlow / Mark R. Levin Yuval Levin / Rob Long / Jim Manzi cites me in the book as one of several readers of Andrew C. McCarthy / Kate O’Beirne drafts along the way to completion. But I think David B. Rivkin Jr. I’m owed a chance to offer some further perspec- NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE Editor-at-Large Kathryn Jean Lopez tive, since Garfinkle brings me in. Managing Editor Edward John Craig I was in Iraq in April and May of 2003 to assist News Editor Daniel Foster Editorial Associates Jay Garner, who led the reconstruction team; I Brian Stewart / Katrina Trinko Web Developer Nathan Goulding served as a policy connection for Garner back to Applications Developer Gareth du Plooy the Pentagon and the inter-agency team working Technical Services Russell Jenkins on post-conflict Iraqi political developments. EDITORS- AT- L A RG E What I remember about the decision to disband Linda Bridges / John O’Sullivan the Iraqi army does not include any discussions Contributors Hadley Arkes / Baloo / Tom Bethell with Rumsfeld. I recall speaking with Rumsfeld James Bowman / Priscilla L. Buckley from Iraq just once or twice in two months, and Eliot A. Cohen / Brian Crozier Dinesh D’Souza / M. Stanton Evans not about this topic. I do remember flying with Chester E. Finn Jr. / Neal B. Freeman Bremer and others from Kuwait or Qatar up to James Gardner / David Gelernter George Gilder / Jeffrey Hart Baghdad—Garner had gathered some of us to go Kevin A. Hassett / Charles R. Kesler down from Iraq to meet Bremer when he first arrived in theater. On the flight to David Klinghoffer / Anthony Lejeune D. Keith Mano / Michael Novak Baghdad, I recall, Bremer was keenly focused on two things: His forthcoming Alan Reynolds / William A. Rusher Tracy Lee Simmons / Terry Teachout orders to 1) disband the Iraqi army and 2) effectively outlaw the Baath party. Taki Theodoracopulos / Vin Weber My impression then and today is that “Washington” was quite aware of these ini- Chief Financial Officer James X. Kilbridge tial Bremer decisions. When it came to early Iraq policy, though, “Washington” had Accounting Manager Galina Veygman Accountant Zofia Baraniak two primary centers of activity. One was the policymaking apparatus, in which Business Services Paul Wolfowitz, Ryan Crocker, Steve Hadley, Zal Khalilzad, Doug Feith, Bill Luti, Alex Batey / Amy Tyler Circulation Manager Jason Ng and others were paying close attention to the political developments, the transition WORLD WIDE WEB www.nationalreview.com MAIN NUMBER 212-679-7330 from Garner to Bremer, and other such matters. Garner and I reached back to that SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES 386-246-0118 group multiple times a week for guidance, reporting, etc. Crocker and Khalilzad WASHINGTON OFFICE 202-543-9226 ADVERTISING SALES 212-679-7330 also came to Baghdad to assist with the political discussions. Executive Publisher Scott F. Budd The other center of activity was around military employment, coalition-force Advertising Director Jim Fowler Advertising Manager Kevin Longstreet management, and the like. Rumsfeld, Gen. Dick Myers of the Joint Chiefs, Gens. ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Paul Olivett Tommy Franks and John Abizaid in CentCom, and their subordinate commanders PUBLISHER focused on this. There were a lot of issues under consideration, including a major Jack Fowler force rotation as combat-operations units that had been in theater for many months CHAIRMANEMERITUS Thomas L. Rhodes in some cases were cycled out and their replacement units came in. This is not to suggest Rumsfeld and those occupied with force planning and FOUNDER William F. Buckley Jr. Continued on page 4 2 | www.nationalreview.com MAY 2 , 2 0 1 1 base_milliken-mar 22.qxd 4/12/2011 12:31 PM Page 1 letters5-2--ready_QXP-1127940387.qxp 4/13/2011 1:35 PM Page 4 Letters Continued from page 2 command were unaware of the policy decisions being made, and I don’t think he intends to leave that impression in his memoir.