At my Anglican church each week there are prayers for world peace. I assume this occurs in all Christian churches. Praying for peace is admirable but a complete waste of time. Christians familiar with the Book of Revelation should know that. The world will end warring. World peace will never arrive. A practical prayer, steeped in Old Testament writings, is for victory. For the unjust to be defeated; with, of course, a nod to the effect that justice is on our side. With that in mind the question arises: when to wage war? It depends.
It depends on the stakes and on how powerful the unjust are and therefore on whether they can be restrained at all without insufferable costs in blood, treasure and territory. For example, if China were to invade Tiawan what should America and its allies, including Australia, do? I suggest that nothing much can or will be done militarily. It will probably be over too quickly and once over will be met with useless temporary sanctions.
The length of time it takes for the big bad guy to have his way can be crucial. Russia needed to have its way with Ukraine quickly. It took too long. It gave NATO time to respond. However, Russia is too big and powerful to counter directly so resort was had to sanctions and supplying arms to Ukraine with limiting conditions on their use. A halfway-house response sure to fail. But the option of boots on the ground and all-out war with Russia was and is unthinkable.
It was quite different when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Iraq was much too weak to pose any threat to America so George Bush senior ordered Operation Desert Storm and quickly kicked Saddam Hussein and his army out of Kuwait. It satisfied the test that the potential losses were expected to be tolerable and the intervention brought no threat to the homeland. This brings me to Isreal.
Leave aside dealing with the remnants of Hamas, Isreal is suffering attacks from Hezbollah, which has killed Americans among others, which has effectively taken over Lebanon and routinely fires rockets and missiles into Israel. Its shipping is being attacked from Yemen by the Houthis, which lob missiles at ships in the Red Sea and strangle the Suez Canal. And this aggression is supported, inspired and financed by Iran. The same Iran whose leaders regularly chant death to America and which is on course shortly to have a nuclear bomb. And this is all happening when each of the bad actors could be relatively easily disabled by the military might of the US (and its allies). Then how come no defining military action is taken?
The US is probably suffering PTSD from its ill-fated military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan? However, I can think of another reason, with an ugly history. The key is that Muslim forces are attacking the Jewish state of Israel. In other circumstances perhaps military intervention would have occurred. Think of Kosovo. As it is, in a perverted twist of morality, Isreal is blamed for defending itself too resolutely. It is no sooner attacked than calls ring out for cease fires and de-escalations. Apparently too, it is required to conduct its military operations without harming civilians who willingly or unwillingly harbor terrorists. I wonder what Churchill or Truman would have said about that.
The inaction, the Israel-blaming, smacks of another variant of antisemitism. Owed, this time around, to the religiously concocted outrage of the worldwide Muslim community. Don’t think we are talking about a few radicals here. We are talking about the great mass of Muslims everywhere; including, as we all have witnessed, in the streets of Sydney and Melbourne. This, not climate change, is the existential threat of our age.
Biden, Starmer, Macron, Scholz, et al are handwringing from the sidelines. Perfidious Albanese and Wong are beneath contempt. What we have is Isreal alone defending Judeo-Christian civilisation. Considering the past, it is a fine irony that the Judeo half is doing all of the heavy lifting.
I still don’t get why the US on behalf of the UN bombed the heck out of Serbia. I guess the Muslim threat to the west wasn’t as acute then.
I mean they were taking back land that had been stolen (for real) unlike the Palis.
They were getting rid of hostile invaders (for real) unlike the Palis.
In the current situation it wouldn’t surprise me if the US government started bombing Israel.
But that may play into the description of Revelation, of all the nations being arrayed against Israel. The ending is a cracker!
Your last paragraph sums up the spineless inaction from the West and, in particular, our PM and FM together with most of our Australian politicians. Many citizens, I hope, are utterly ashamed of the government’s response, and I optimistically suspect that the majority is backing Israel to the hilt. I certainly am in conversations with anyone who cares to listen.
At the time it was widely observed that Iraq had the 3rd largest military on the planet, and were substantially armed with top line Soviet tanks. At least the Iraqi Republican Guard did, they had T-72s, which have been fighting in Ukraine over thirty years later. Plus the Iraqi Army had just come out of a brutal war with Iran, so they had significant experience.
The US Army, though, went through the lot of them like poo through a goose. Reading the wikis is pretty eyeopening.
Which brings me to Taiwan. The PLA will have been watching the Ukraine War with interest, and prior to that the war with the Houthis.
I mention the latter since Yemen is similar terrain to Taiwan, yet the Saudis were completely unable to defeat the Houthis despite serious air support.
And in flat featureless Ukraine the Russian Army has been stopped cold. No terrain advantages there.
So if I were a Chinese general I would be considering the defensive aspects of Taiwan very carefully.
Friday prayers in support of those who hate my people. Go figure.
My grandparents survived the Holocaust. I failed at maths. Nothing adds up.
Mmm…
Peter Hitchens reads the Second Collect (for Peace) from the Book of Common Prayer (1662), Morning Prayer
Perplexed of Brisbane
October 5, 2024 2:49 pm
I still don’t get why the US on behalf of the UN bombed the heck out of Serbia.
I don’t follow this, first, the muzzies had a stranglehold on the west by then
and second if there was no threat then why bomb the victim of aggression?
As you said;
Thanks Peter.
Great post Peter.
Tell me more of this old testament God (the OG)
The West naively accepted the “end of history” prediction by Fukuyama in the post WWII period. It luxuriated in the economic largesse that the period of global trade and emerging markets provided.
That dream is over.
We are also talking about the socialist activist class, which enthusiastically adopted ‘Palestine’ back in the 1960’s as a shitty stick with which to beat the US.
Watching the protests in London I can safely say that, although the media shows curated images, thousands of the thousands of anti-Israel protesters are fellow travellers, rather than Servants of the Prophet.
This is ‘the moment’ for many agendas that do not wish the western world well.
I support Israel – an island of sanity and civilisation in a sea of islamic madness and barbarism.
We should always support the civilised against the barbarians and this is no different.
In a way it’s pretty pointless really, when the other side is praying for the destruction of their opponent.
Sounds like a praying contest, whose God is the stronger or even listening.
So far in every war all sides were earnestly praying for victory.
In every case the side with the better armament, resources and manpower + tactics (luck?) won.
Still I suppose, it does no harm and makes the believers feel good.