I’m a big fan of Victor Davis Hanson’s Western Way of War. He points out that once we get finally get going, we are complete and utter meat-grinding mechanized murderers.

Where I think GB goes a bit wrong is this notion that at some point the Angels of Mons are going to magically manifest themselves and suddenly the Arsenal of Democracy (no comment) will be excreting Liberty Ships and Fifth Generation Fighter aircraft at 1 Billion grifting dollars per SKU like me after a trip to a Bombay curry house.

Sorry, GB: Putting words into your mouth is now a recognized Olympic event inside my muddled head and I’m going for Gold 😀

My issue is that maybe the Saxon will Awaken in a Very Bad Mood. But what’s he going to fight his foreign enemies with? A wet noodle? He’s got a bunch of impressive looking military kit, but he’s got very little industrial base and a gigantic Fifth Column inside his borders and inside his head courtesy of social media, Hollywood, etc. Knock out a few of his high tech toys and he can’t replace them before he’s beaten or forced to a draw. It’s not 1943. Kaiser is am HMO now. Perhaps they could prescribe enough insulin pumps to bomb the Chinese. Except that they probably buy their pumps from China in bulk.

I’m more into tipping points for Enemies Domestic. That can be done with rocks and and clubs if necessary. Clean House and rebuild. You never know.. after doing so, the urge to go out and smite foreigners might even not exist for a while. I seriously believe that a lot of the lashing out that US Elites do is because it’s easier and more profitable than dealing with domestic stuff.

Greenfield from Zaphod’s link above: “The Jihadists haven’t made one final mistake yet, but history suggests that they will. …
America, to its friends and enemies, and to its own patriots, can be an infuriating mix of weakness and strength, idealism and corruption, division and unity. And it’s never entirely clear, even to us, when the tipping point that turns one into the other will unexpectedly arrive.”

If we come to the right tipping point, GB’s vision will become reality for enemies both foreign and domestic.

https://www.podbean.com/site/EpisodeDownload/PB10E56E3VSB8J

Well, that’s one way to bring back the draft, isn’t it?…

(Never, ever believe that the b*$@tards aren’t effing clever…. Though one might be forgiven if one were to hope and pray that they be too clever by half.)

I’m not persuaded about the existential threat; it has been that in the past 500 years, but I’m not seeing it today. It’s because we have much more capability. We have less will, sure. We are not a war-loving people any more than we are a murder-loving people, and so we are at a disadvantage there and always will be, but we have dealt with civilizational threats before when they were unmistakable.

So, after $2 trillion and many lives and limbs being expended there, we are OUT and the situation is worse than when we went in 20 years ago. We have armed the Taliban, we have lost face, and we have no over the horizon intel capability there. (In spite of Biden’s claims to the contrary.)

We must admit that this is going to be a long, low level, fourth generation war. We must always keep a clear eyed view of what we can accomplish at the lowest possible cost in blood and treasure. This must be clearly explained to the American people because, as VDH pointed out, the patriotic Americans whose sons and daughters have been the backbone of our forces are not seeing the sense in these never-ending low level conflicts in countries they aren’t able to feel any sympathy for. If our leaders won’t /can’t provide answers for the people, the volunteer military is going to suffer from a lack of volunteers.

Another point that I think needs to be brought forward is the issue of unlawful combatants. The Islamic jihadis are unlawful combatants under the Geneva Conventions. They wear no uniforms, carry no flags, don’t represent a sovereign nation, and don’t conduct their operations in accordance with the laws of war. Under the Geneva Convention, if they are captured, they can be tried by a military commission and executed for their crime of being an unlawful combatant. Harsh? Yes, but we are seeking to deter terrorist actions. This is one tool we have not used.

Young Muslims born in western countries believe they are victims. This belief is incredibly toxic. Unfortunately the Identity politics as practiced by the left reinforces these beliefs. When combined with the belief that death as a martyr is the only sure path to paradise we have a real problem.

The declarations that Islam is a religion of peace might be effective if the non-peace parts of Islam were ridiculed, but otherwise accomplishes nothing.

Ridicule of ridiculous ideas is the only way anything will change.

Let’s recall that this defeatism is purposely cultivated by the Left.

For those of you who view Israel as somehow clearer in these matters than the rest of the world – that clarity has been forced on us by events. And Israel’s cultural/media elite are still desperately trying to keep the truth at bay.

From the beginning, the Lefties who hijacked the Zionist project espoused Leftie one-world universal kumbaya talking points. They have learned nothing in the intervening years.

In 1967 these folks snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. They have spent the time since cultivating a false Palestinian identity as a sort of poison pill that will prevent Israel from ever decisively winning the 6 day war. After all these are the people who “never let a crisis go to waste” and constantly play divide and conquer.

The defeatist left wing media here spun the Yom Kippur war in exactly these terms – the song that they made most prominent was one in which a father promises his child that “this will be the last war”.

Years later a younger singer would fling this promise back at the older generation with a taunting song about how “you promised us doves”. Also got lotsa airplay.

Similarly, the Lebanon war was cast by the media as Israel’s Vietnam, and veterans were for the first time disrespected by the media.

The Left is constantly pumping this defeatist poison here as in all Western countries.

The “endless wars” angle was a major part of the pro Oslo propaganda campaign. And many Israelis – good hearted descendants of Tevye and other dreamers – went along.

Then the buses start blowing up.

Any clarity we Israelis have in these matters was paid for in blood – a price i don’t wish on anyone. And the fantasy PC thinking still permeates media, government, and military. As we see in the impotent periodic “incursions” into Gaza, and the Euro-style blind spot to anti-Israel violence from Israel’s Arab citizens.

It took the Spanish seven hundred and fifty years, but they got the job done.

I wonder if the WW II model is too much in our unconscious. That is, smash the enemy flat, sit on him, root out his big shots and kill them, remake his culture from dog catcher on up. If we’re not willing to do that, it’s because the threat is minimal. And since we’re not willing to do that wrt Islam, it must mean the threat is minimal.

If anyone were interested, some of the Epistles are written to congregations in what is now Turkey.

But…..I’m reminded of a line from Back to The Future: “Is anybody home?”

(Although what in the name of all that is Unholy is a ‘Democratic World Order?’)

http://www.danielgreenfield.org/2021/09/the-war-on-terror-sacrificed-thousands.html

“Our various enemies were correct in assuming that our political leaders lacked the will to make the necessary decisions. Where they erred was in assuming too much and pushing too far. The Japanese made that mistake in Pearl Harbor, the Soviets in Berlin, and Al Qaeda on 9/11. The Jihadists haven’t made one final mistake yet, but history suggests that they will.

America, to its friends and enemies, and to its own patriots, can be an infuriating mix of weakness and strength, idealism and corruption, division and unity. And it’s never entirely clear, even to us, when the tipping point that turns one into the other will unexpectedly arrive.

The great tragedy of the aftermath of September 11 is that our leaders proved willing to sacrifice soldiers, but not the dream of a democratic world order, and instead sacrificed lives to that dream. They took the road that was easiest for them and hardest for so many military men.

The War on Terror only became a forever war because we failed to confront two of the three pillars from which the enemy draws its strength. After two decades, we’ve seen the limitations of a military option that is not combined with foreign policy and immigration decisions that would cut off the true economic and demographic sources of the enemy’s strength. Until our leaders are ready to make the hard choices and our people are ready to elect those who will, the forever wars will go on, not just in distant countries, but in the streets of our own cities.

We have failed to identify the enemy. And until we do, we can never win.“