War should be Hell

I recently watched the Band of Brothers miniseries from HBO.  It came out a week before 9/11 and I saw a couple of episodes back then.  It is an interesting show, more because of the contrast it provides with war today.  The people who fought World War II have long been called The Greatest Generation and yet much of what they did would be considered war crimes under today's rules.  World War II was fought to victory.  We didn't have ceasefire agreements and peace talks.  We fought until Germany and Japan surrendered unconditionally.  How did that work out?  Germany is the economic powerhouse of Europe and Japan has held that position in East Asia.  Both are peaceful countries that haven't seen war since 1945.  Gee, why don't we fight wars that way anymore?

First, we had another nuclear power on the scene.  When the USSR became a nuclear power, it became necessary to prevent another total war.  Thus, we held back in Korea and Vietnam, settling for a draw in the first and a loss in the second.  With the fall of the Soviet Union, US power was supreme and yet, despite multiple conflicts, we still fought as if we feared escalation.  Iraq cannot escalate.  Afghanistan cannot escalate.  There is no reason to fight a war of half measures.  Or is there?  In WWII, we flattened cities in Germany, Italy, and Japan.  We bombed occupied ally cities.  Civilian deaths were high.  Such a strategy would be considered barbaric today.  Pinpoint bombing has made war much more tolerable for civilians.  Moreover, a reluctance to risk civilian casualties has provided enemies with a perfect shield; hide among civilians and Westerners won't shoot.

 

General Sherman said that 'War is Hell.'  War should be Hell.  War should be made as intolerable as possible so that it will end more quickly.  All our civility has done is make it impossible to win wars.  You want to end Islamic terrorism?  Start flattening cities.  Entire populations must be thoroughly convinced to abandon the current path.  Moreover, any country that has any of this Islamofascist nonsense must be told in no uncertain terms to clean it up or the bombers will start appearing in their skies.  If we fought WWII the way we are fighting the current War on Terror, we would have lost on both fronts.

 

Of course, it may be too late.  Russia is on the rise.  Is a new Soviet Empire being reborn?  China is working on a navy to rival ours.  The window of a single superpower is closing.  In fact, it is closed for the foreseeable future since President Obama wants nothing more than to withdraw the US from the world.  The consequences of that withdrawal are blooming.