The Business of Losing Wars

It’s not only high concept, as they say in Hollywood, but it rings true. It rings far too true, if you like.

I am thinking of Ben Shapiro’s new column, wherein he asserts that we Americans have gotten into the business of losing wars. Surely, we are no longer in the business of winning wars. That would be so mid-twentieth century.

He presents his case:

The pattern of every American war since the end of World War II has been simple: we jump to involve ourselves in military conflicts when we feel a surge of moral outrage at the evils of our enemies; we then begin to question ourselves when we see hideous pictures on our televisions; we then surrender or cut an ugly deal. That is the pattern in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq. Sometimes, we simply abandon our allies without any sort of serious opposition, as with the Kurds or the people of Hong Kong.

Consider the ongoing war in Gaza. Has any member of our precious administration declared that Israel should do everything necessary to win the war? Not at all. Our intrepid culture warriors are horrified at the notion of becoming real warriors, and of competing to win.

And yet, they are doing whatever they can to ensure that Israel does not win. While threatening Israel and working to save Hamas, the Biden administration is blaming the Israeli prime minister for not finishing the job.

The Biden party line involves feeding the poor beleaguered Gazans who happily embraced Hamas and who approve of what Hamas did on October 7. 

For a moment, let’s try a thought experiment. If you had to make an educated guess which of the two sexes-- there are only two, didn’t you know?-- is more concerned with competing to win and which of the two sexes is more associated with feeding people.

The Biden administration might be filled chock full of males, but these are what Arnold Schwarznegger once called-- girly men. They are agonizing about how best to feed the non-starving Gazans and Hamas supporters.

And yet, the more you convince your enemies that you are working to girlify military combat, the more they will conclude that you are on the verge of quitting the fight, because you have no fight. The more they believe this the more likely they are to attack you and to hold out for victory.

The Israelis seek victory over Hamas. But, Hamas is confident that the Biden administration will come to rescue it from oblivion. As of now it does not seem to have miscalculated.

Shapiro explains:

Despite all of this, Israel has achieved historic military wins: killing the top Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commander in Lebanon and Syria; quieting the West Bank through targeted raids; extirpating Hamas control from most of the Gaza Strip, leaving only the city of Rafah with its four divisions of Hamas.

While he is not wondering why the world has forgotten the atrocities committed by Hamas, Secretary Blinken has declared himself to be on the girl side of the ledger. Could he have been more whiny and weak-kneed:

This week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the astonishing statement that Israel was risking losing its reverence for human life -- even as Israelis sacrifice their own lives in an attempt to rescue hostages and preserve civilians who largely support genocidal Jew-hatred. Blinken stated, "If we lose that reverence for human life, we risk becoming indistinguishable from those we confront." He then added, "Right now, there is no higher priority in Gaza than protecting civilians, surging humanitarian assistance, and ensuring the security of those who provide it."

How reverent are you about human life? What about the human life of the leaders of Hamas? Are you whining about the possibility that they might get hurt, that they might have to pay for their criminal behavior? If you are defending human beings, someone somewhere is going to explain that Hamas fighters are human too. 

If Israel does what the Biden administration wants it to do, its enemies will draw a message.

Shapiro makes the case for victory:

Should Israel accede to America's request to leave Hamas in place in Rafah, Hezbollah will challenge Israel in the north; Iranian proxies will challenge Israel in the West Bank; Iran will up the ante in Yemen and the Red Sea. Israel and Saudi Arabia will be forced to search for new allies and new weapons. The world will significantly become more dangerous.

In truth, the world has become significantly more dangerous since Joe Biden took office.

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