“It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.” Words spoken by Robert E. Lee as he watched James Longstreet’s First Corps (Army of Northern Virginia) decimate the Yankee army as it attacked his defensive position on Marye’s Heights on December 14, 1862. Twelve thousand Union casualties—dead bodies everywhere.
Dad stormed the beaches at Normandy, fought in the Normandy hedgerows, and helped liberate Paris. There, the Army made him an officer. During the Battle of the Bulge and the freezing cold, he and his men repulsed the Wehrmacht’s Fifth and Sixth Panzer Divisions. He then marched into Germany, and when Adolf Hitler was defeated, he volunteered for service in the Pacific.
My brother Ken tells the story of sitting at the dinner table and telling the old man that he had dropped out of college that day to join the Marines so he could join the fight in Vietnam. Dad’s face went solemn. He quietly pushed his plate away, got up, and silently left the room. Ken thought Dad would be happy—that his son was answering the call to arms. Dad never scolded him or said he wished he hadn’t done it, but he was profoundly sad.
Mature men understand the horrors of war, but also that armed conflict is often unavoidable. The world has never been without war. Evil exists, and if I’m reading the Book of Revelation correctly, evil will exist until the end of time.
KILL OR BE KILLED
There is a long list of wars which were complete and utter foolishness. If the combatants on both sides knew how things would end, hostilities would never have commenced. The lens of history is our greatest instructor, and generally no one in the present knows if going to war is a good or bad decision until the ripple effects filter through the generations.
So, what is a sound, ironclad rule for when a country should go to war? How about this: “kill or be killed.” Iran’s leadership is the epitome of evil. I know we are supposed to wear our Birkenstocks, hold hands, sing “Kumbaya,” and pretend that all peoples and cultures are the same—but they are not. Radical Islam has been at war with Christianity and the West for 1,400 years. Some historians estimate that 270 million people have died at the hands of Islam.
No serious person can argue that Iran’s leadership is not a grave threat to world order, or to civilization itself. I am not privy to intelligence reports about Iran’s nuclear capabilities, but it definitely has ballistic missile capabilities and highly enriched uranium, and the absolute fanatical determination to kill millions of infidels. If it is just a 1% of 1% chance these missiles are fired, Iran’s military and leadership must be destroyed.
I grow weary of the knee-jerk reactions to everything Donald Trump does. Some critics seem to want him—and our military—to fail. That is deeply troubling. What goes unreported is how stunningly capable our military is. Certainly, contingency plans to attack and neutralize Iran have been “war colleged” since the Shah fell in 1979, but until recently, the costs were considered too high in manpower and treasure.
In just two and a half weeks, a country of 100 million people has seen its navy, air defenses, air force, weapons production, and leadership destroyed—with minimal American combat deaths. It is astounding. Compare that to the 23,000 casualties in a single day at Sharpsburg, where neither North nor South gained any tactical advantage. When I was a boy and Ken was in Vietnam, we would listen as Walter Cronkite listed the American dead. We always wondered if Ken was among them. More than 55,000 Americans were killed. Take almost any blue city in the United States, and more people have been shot dead than the handful of American casualties disarming a country of 100 million people.
You, Dear Reader, should be proud and damned thankful that you are secure in your beds at night due to the United States military. You should also be in awe of the uniquely American spirit of enterprise, rooted in capitalism and all of its incredible benefits, because no other system the world has ever known could create the technology, or have the resources to produce such a dazzling display of military power. So next time you vote for a “Zohran Mamdani,” bear in mind, you are weakening America’s defenses and making it more likely your children will die at the hands of foreign enemies.
The media focuses on isolated mistakes by our military. Meanwhile, U.S. and Israeli forces have intercepted tens of thousands of missiles and drones. The success rate is extraordinary. The few that have gotten through have caused very little damage.
It is disheartening that this has become such a partisan issue. The decision to commit forces to war is the gravest responsibility a president bears—not only risking the lives of our troops but also carrying the moral weight of taking the lives of others. It would be refreshing if critics were more measured—less strident, more thoughtful. Something like:
“I’m not convinced the president made the right decision, but I’m willing to learn more. In the meantime, my prayers are with the president and our troops.”
In all of history, there’s never been a great power that didn’t have a dominant military. During the Pax Britannica, British armed forces kept the peace through strength. There was good order. International trade flourished. Great wealth was created. Wealth begets wealth, and wealthy nations at peace and in commerce with one another create higher living standards for all.
No one knows the future. My hope is the recent actions of the American military will create a new era of Pax Americana. We are a force for good in the world. Getting rid of bad international actors at little cost seems prudent to me. Venezuela and Iran were once very wealthy pro-Western countries before they were overtaken by pure evil. So was Cuba. It’s being squeezed, and after witnessing what the United States has done to Iran, you can bet Cuban leadership will soon fold the tent, and the Cuban people will be liberated.
Regardless of one’s views on the Iranian conflict, all Americans should be grateful for our military, which allows us to sit in the comfort of our homes and watch war unfold as though we are watching a Netflix series. Our sons and daughters are not cannon fodder at Marye’s Heights.
It’s okay to disagree with me, but not being thankful for our country and rooting for our military to fail gets me riled up! As Merle Haggard famously said, “When you’re runnin’ down my country, hoss, you’re walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me!”
