September 25, 2006

You learn something new every day

I didn't know that landlocked Bolivia, which lost its coastline to Chile in 1879's Saltpeter War, has a 5,000 man navy. According to the NYT:

The current navy, though ensconced in society, is a relatively recent creation. In a fit of nationalism in 1963, President VĂ­ctor Paz Estenssoro decreed it back into existence.

Military officials were sent on educational exchanges to naval schools in Argentina, Brazil and the United States, institutionalizing Bolivia’s wish for a coastline...

The navy’s proudest outpost is found on the southern banks of Lake Titicaca, more than two miles above sea level.

A monument near the entrance to the Titicaca Naval Base depicts a Bolivian soldier thrusting his bayonet into the throat of a Chilean soldier beside the words, “What once was ours, will be ours once more.”

I get a deep pleasure out of contemplating examples like this of the bloody-mindedness of humanity as long as I'm confident that not even George W. Bush would get our country involved in a Second Saltpeter War.

He wouldn't, would he?


My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

No comments: