
Edward Luttwak: The Machiavelli of Maryland - blackbagboys
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/09/edward-luttwak-machiavelli-of-maryland
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opaque
A good read. Having never heard of the man he seems like an extraordinarily
successful variant of the self-aggrandising “arm-chair general” found in pubs
throughout the world. Right down to the highly questionable claims to have
seen military action. This and other of the claims could certainly have been
fact checked here. It comes across as though the journalist didn’t want to
offend him by showing up the obvious lies.

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blue1
Luttwak is a welcome guest of italian TV talk shows because: (a) he speaks
Italian and (b) he has a usually different, and often interesting, point of
view. Even if one does not like its macho-neocon slant, he is a rather smart
guy.

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toyg
c) he was considered the unofficial speaker for NATO in Italy in the '70s and
'80s, saying the outrageous things others couldn't say and making local
"Atlanticist" politicians look moderate in comparison.

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CurtMonash
He evidently wants to present himself as The Most Interesting Man In The
World.

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Zigurd
I suppose there must be some people who still find Obama-is-a-Muslim rabid
warmongering neocons interesting
[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/opinion/12luttwak.html](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/opinion/12luttwak.html)

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crikli
How does this article support the"Obama is a Muslim" trope? His point is that
some of the Muslim world might view Obama as an apostate because of his
parentage, over which he had no control, and his renunciation of Islam and
conversion to Christianity, which he did.

"But of all the well-meaning desires projected on Senator Obama, the hope that
he would decisively improve relations with the world’s Muslims is the least
realistic."

He certainly had that right.

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Zigurd
At best, he is trying to have it both ways: Saying it outright and then
raising the tone a few octaves into dog-whistle range.

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genericacct
Interesting read -- i had no idea about his youth in sicily. Now I know what
made him so "popular" in Italy.

