The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition

The West no longer conducts military actions as they were intended: to kill people and destroy things. That is, after all, the entire point of war. Trying to titrate and massage and triangulate what is death and destruction ultimately leads to more death and destruction.

War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.

But the West wants clean humane, safe wars! Just like our playgrounds are now wrapped in padding and our children are not allowed to play, we protect ourselves from the reality of the world and the consequences of our own actions. Blowing up empty warehouses and carefully warning people before attacks (to minimize death!) might impress the Washington Post and the New York Times and Cambridge and Brentwood and the Upper West Side, but the West's enemies laugh at our weakness and are emboldened by it.

Human nature has a long memory and keeps longer grudges. Eventually the butcher's bill needs to be paid. In the most recent CJN podcast, Michael Walsh and J.J. Sefton and I discussed the failure of the West to fight. Israel -- the tip of the Western spear wielded against Islam -- tried the soft post-WWII approach, and for their efforts got October 7th.

But...

The commander in the regional alliance and two additional sources familiar with Hezbollah's thinking said Israel had abandoned the unspoken "rules of the game" that previously characterised its strikes in Syria, and seemed "no longer cautious" about inflicting heavy casualties on Hezbollah there.

"They used to fire warning shots - they'd hit near the truck, our guys would get out of the truck, and then they'd hit the truck," the commander said, describing Israeli raids on arms transfers handled by Hezbollah before Oct. 7.

"Now that's over. Israel is now unleashing deadlier, more frequent air raids against Iranian arms transfers and air defence systems in Syria. They bomb everyone directly. They bomb to kill."

Israel paid a horrible price for the lazy assumption that their enemies would moderate their behavior...eventually. But history teaches a different lesson. Decisive victory rarely leads to bad things for the victor, but a measured response allows the defeated to entertain thoughts of revenge and revolt.

Any rational observer of Islam will see its implacable philosophy, and its relentless march toward a world caliphate. Too many Western countries are falling to its advances; France and the UK, once the pillars of Western culture, are sad and diminished...waiting for the rapidly growing Muslim populations to overwhelm them, and all without firing a shot in defense of their countries and culture.

Would anyone be surprised by a look into the not-so-distant future that shows Westminster Abbey and Notre Dame with minarets built on their roofs, calling Muslims to prayer inside?

Israel has belatedly decided that their country and culture are worth defending, although to be fair, the people always felt that way...it seems however that its leaders embraced a more nuanced outlook that credited them with far more wisdom than has been shown to be the case.

When will the rest of the West follow suit?

posted by CBD at 11:00 AM

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