For the past 50 years, the United States has become accustomed to losing wars. We were forced to leave Saigon in 1975, bearing the burden of humiliation. From Beirut in 1984, from Mogadishu in 1993, and from Iraq in 2021—we were forced to withdraw our troops bearing the same burden of humiliation.
In this US strategic war, we only had limited victories against Saddam Hussein in 1991 and against Muammar Gaddafi. What else is there to fight? US military casualties in the three minor wars—Granada, Panama, Kosovo—were minimal. For this reason, this war is very little in the memory of people.
If you belong to the leftist camp, you would probably say that most, if not all, wars were unnecessary. They were not battles to be won. Nor was the war worthless. If you belong to the right-wing camp, you might say that there were not enough troops to win the war. And the soldiers also fought the war very badly. There were many obstacles in front of them. The troops were hastily withdrawn before the mission was over.
In any case, none of these wars involved our existence. If Kosovo were still part of Serbia—would American lives be materially different? But what do we say about the wars that involve the existence of Americans? We know how Americans fought the wars that cost them their existence.
During World War II, 10,000 civilians were killed in the Netherlands, 60,000 in France, 60,000 in Italy and more than 100,000 in Germany. These killings were carried out based on Anglo-American principles. The policy was to ‘break the morale of the German people by seriously weakening the armed resistance capability.’ We used this very principle of our existence against Japan, killing a million people in the bomb.
Today, Ukraine and Israel are engaged in a similar war. We know it not because they say it, but because we see what their enemies are doing. Vladimir Putin believes that the existence of the Ukrainian state is a fiction. Hamas, Hezbollah and their sponsor Iran have openly said that Israel should be wiped off the map. In response, Ukraine and Israel are aggressively seeking war. They think that they can ensure their security only by crushing the enemy’s ability and desire to fight.
This often leads to tragic consequences. That’s what we saw in Rafa. At least 45 civilians were killed in Rafah in airstrikes targeting Hamas leaders.
We only give an ally like Ukraine as much weaponry as it needs to repel a Russian attack. Due to this, Russia is getting an opportunity to increase the attack from their side. War is not like cooking khichuri, a ‘catch fish not touch water’ approach to war is never acceptable. Either you will be on the way to victory, or you will be on the way to defeat.
Now we see the Biden administration continuing to try to rein in Israel and help Ukraine. But they have kept both countries under illusion. They are asking Israel and Ukraine to fight the same war that the United States has waged itself over the past few decades. Come to think of it, Ukraine has not received a single F-16S fighter jet to provide airspace defense.
In the short term, Biden’s move is easing some of the humanitarian crisis, saving voters from anger, and averting the threat of a major war. But in the long run this approach is ensuring the defeat of our allies.
President Joe Biden, in his Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery, honored generation after generation of soldiers who have fought and died in the ‘democracy war against tyranny’. But the tragedy is that the history of recent wars shows that thousands of soldiers have been defeated in battles that actually lacked the will to win. The reason for the death of these troops is that Biden and previous presidents have delayed deciding what their priorities will be.