Member-only story
Michael McCaul: Perfect Wartime Chair for House Foreign Affairs
In these dangerous geopolitical times, too many mistakes have been made already. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) is determined to right the ship.
Less than a year ago, the prospect of global thermonuclear war seemed a distant dystopian nightmare.
After the devastation wrought by two World Wars, humanity entered into the post-nuclear age and saner heads were supposed to prevail.
M.A.D., short for mutually assured destruction, kept the last Cold War between Russia and the U.S. from escalating into anything worse, though there were tense moments.
Heading into the 21st Century, the leaders of the world’s nuclear powers were supposed to keep the horrors of past wars firmly in mind at all times. Russia in particular should be anxious to avoid another global conflict.
During World War II, the U.S. lost approximately 298,000 people. The U.K. lost 264,443. Occupied France lost 213,324.
The U.S.S.R. lost 18 million. And many historians believe that to be a conservative estimate.
As we all have come to realize in recent months, some of today’s world leaders are neither as familiar with world history nor as committed to self-preservation as we might wish.