It would be foolish to allow a minor fistfight, over some small matter, to erupt into gunfire.  However, when one nation attacks another with deadly effect, it is foolish to respond “proportionately.”  The would-be aggressor can be deterred only by the certainty of unlimited warfare.  Russia, for example, would not have attacked Ukraine had the response been a guaranteed total war with NATO.  Likewise, Ukraine would have quickly surrendered had the alternative been to be quickly crushed by overwhelming Russian might.  The war there continues, and lives continue to be lost in the many thousands, because the conflict is “limited.”

The specter of unlimited war is what kept the peace in Europe after the Second World War.  In 1950, however, the Korean War was fought to a standstill because even the threat of total war was removed, a factor that led eventually to the debacle in Vietnam, another “limited war.”

On October 7, 2023, we began to see a shift back toward the historical norm.  Having been brutally attacked by Hamas savages, Israel responded with the only appropriate measure it could have: total war.  Even this response was somewhat muted due to a lack of means, but the terrorists are being methodically exterminated and, God willing, will never again be in power in Gaza.

The situation in the South China Sea will not be finally resolved by limited incursions, not by China, nor by Taiwan or its allies.  In the end, either Taiwan will be swallowed entirely by China or it will be established as a sovereign nation.  There will be no compromise, and certainly no limited war.  If it comes to open warfare, one side or the other will be obliterated.  The Chinese fully understand that if they are defeated in battle, their leaders will be discredited, and probably dead.  Therefore, the credible threat of total war is having a salutary effect — millions of people are still alive because of it.

American successes and failures in Iraq and Afghanistan have been defined by whether the U.S. forces there were leashed or unleashed.  ISIS was decisively defeated under the Trump administration, whereas the Taliban is running amok under Biden and Harris.

The proper use of American military might is to make of it an iron fist that no enemy will dare challenge.  Its threat must be obvious but silent, never spoken but, when necessary, abruptly used.

Such proper use must never be predicated on anything other than clearly defined national interests.  Exactly what those interests are, and precisely where the line of embarkation is drawn, is a delicate task for men of indelicate character.  The enemy must never know with certainty where that line is until he crosses it, at which moment his fate is irreversibly sealed.  Because if the enemy will know that beforehand, he will either stay well away from hostile acts or else fervently wish he had.

One final principle of war must be borne in mind: it is always easier to send someone else’s son to the front line of battle than to send his own.

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