The West’s moral high ground is a death trap. Restraint against ruthless adversaries only cedes advantage, costs lives, and undermines long-term security.
I am reminded of a quote by Moshe Dayan “Israel must be like a mad dog, too crazy to bother”. I keep coming back to it, but Israel must be ready to fight these psychopaths with nuclear weapons. Israel cannot let itself be indefinitely paralyzed by rocket attacks by this genocidal, regime. It is perfectly OK for Israel to use them in an existential threat scenario; after all, the USA used them in 1945 even when Japan didn’t pose an existential threat.
You’re correct. Morality is not a suicide pact, but the use of nuclear weapons is. That can’t happen. Ms. Berg lays out appropriate strategies to help win this war, and she never mentions nuclear weapons. For good reason.
Iran has stated that it will nuke Israel regardless of a nuclear retaliation by Israel. These are not rational actors; they are psychotic insatiable genocidal monsters. Nukes are not only an option to prevent a Second Holocaust, if these Islamonazis are not taken out of power, it will ultimately become the ONLY option.
Israel is doing a fine job without needed nukes--at this time. It should only be used under the most extreme existential condition(s), otherwise, the Jew hater countries (not just in the Mideast) will see it as an excuse to nuke Israel (and they would love any excuse).
And that is why Israel is destroying Iran’s capacity to build one. Iran’s theocracy is not a rational actor, you’re right. And Israel is not Iran. Israel is demonstrating the ability to eliminate Iran’s current leadership from defeating Israel.
Excellent analysis. Your comparison to asymmetrical warfare is exactly right.
The problem is that this imbalance isn’t only happening on the battlefield — it’s happening in the media as well. Much of the mainstream press seems less interested in explaining the nature of the enemy than in undermining U.S. and Israeli policy. In many cases the narrative ends up amplifying propaganda produced by the very groups that exploit civilians and manipulate images to win the information war.
That makes the battlefield even more uneven. While Iran and its proxies ignore every rule, Western governments fight with military restraints and a media environment that often assumes the worst about its own side.
Your conclusion is the correct one: wars like this cannot be fought as if both sides are playing by the same rules. They aren’t. Recognizing that reality is not abandoning Western values — it’s the only way to ensure they survive.
I am dismayed at how many modern right-wing commentators think that our enemies today are the worst in history. Did Hitler follow Geneva convention? Was Nasser a gentleman? I suppose Saddam Hussein and Moamar Ghaddafi always drank their tea in a proper British manner?
We are where we are thanks to the heroism and hard work of many generations. Churchill, Roosevelt, Marshall, and Eisenhower led the free world against the Nazis. Ben-Gurion, Sharett, Mayan, Golda, Rabin, Begin, Sharon, and others made Israel a great power in the Middle East. Do not discount their achievements. Do not think they were stupid and you know better. Learn from them.
Too many countries and people just don't want to fight these wars. They appeasement and accommodate terrorism, hoping that they will be spared harm as the terrorists and their armies will focus on the US and Israel instead. Nazi Germany played on these same fears and bargaining, but ultimately no one is protected as the terrorists become stronger and more ruthless.
Our youth are soft and feel entitled to live in a world of peace without a need to defend their borders or countries. The fantasy of Marxism and critical theories seem sufficient to destroy our morale and pride. They assume that no war is necessary or just, leaving it to working class people, whether rural or urban, to fight wars to protect the privileged.
This has always been the formula for the expansion of Islam, since it's founding. Chaos and fear, lack of concern for economic development, but focusing instead on weapons, conquest, and the spoils of war. It is easier to take things you want from your neighbors by intimidation than by fair dealings between equals.
When asked whether they would rather respond like the US or like Spain and France, and the UK Labor government, many Americans are unwilling to defend their civilization from the alliance of the far left and Islamism. Many will simply oppose anything Trump does. Frankly, I don't like our odds if Europe continues its appeasement.
I don’t think we have to make war any horrifying than it already is, but we should be prepared for a bitter struggle to setup a better age for Iran. Let’s hold to our values and rules based order.
I’m sorry but War and baseball differ when it comes to breaking the “rules”. In baseball there is a ruling authority accepted by all the teams. If a player gets caught breaking the rules he is punished and the punishment can be career ending. In war there is no overall ruling authority to make nation states play fair. By and large winning or losing decides who gets punished for breaking someone’s rules.
I agree with pretty much everything Ms. Berg writes, but as President Trump is currently demonstrating with Israel’s partnership, proponents of modern asymmetrical warfare like Iran are capable of being beaten and/or destroyed without us having to abandon our moral principles.
But when I say “we” I am referring to Ms. Berg and myself and the millions of people who agree. Unfortunately when it comes to war and the ROEs of it, there are millions of others who disagree and so, for democracies anyway, it’s off to the ballot box.
Oh that we could return to WW2 where our allied governments decided that the people living in Axis countries needed to feel the effects their armies were perpetrating on innocent civilian populations elsewhere…
But we cannot.
Democracy is messy, and what goes around as a successful military strategy can go around a loooong way before it goes down before an opponent with a better strategy. (See WW2)
The war against Iran is going quite well, don’t you think? And even though we are being quite humane in prosecuting the downfall of that evil religious state, the opposition to the war is hallucinating a conflict that doesn’t exist. And God help us if they win a victory in the American elections this fall.
The rule driven humane sport of baseball is not like war. Only war is like war. Red in tooth and claw, and don’t let anybody trick you into believing otherwise…. But you knew that.
If anyone thinks the worldwide media is going to be objective then I have a bridge for sale in Brooklyn. The West in the form of the US and Israel MUST keep up the pressure on these asymmetrical actors wherever they are. To fail to do so allows them to believe that their sick ideology and religion will prevail. Finally, something I learned at Fort Benning applies to all this. If you get into a fair fight you didn't plan it right.
Western media is complicit with the enemy. Our enemies use of asymmetric warfare could not work if we had a media that was patriotic and at least explained to the public the reason why civilians have been killed which is because the enemy is purposefully using them as human shields. Instead of defending our military, our disgusting fake media condemns our side for civilian deaths and brainwashes many of our own people against us.
Nevertheless, we cannot allow that situation to paralyze us into hesitation or inaction altogether. That is what the terrorists are counting on. They use our own humanity against us. Instead, we need to fight wars with a cold, calculated realism. Whatever civilian deaths occur, the blame completely lies with the enemy. It is they who are guilty of war crimes.
Progressive media in Australia reports to the benefit of the terrorist states attacking Israel -- there is never any context as to the tactics Hezbollah and the IRGC employ, only images of children and stories about pet cats and homes being evacuated. I don't mean to seem insensitive, but the cognitive dissonance is real. The genocidal goals and actions of these states -- missiles, suicide bombings, nuclear weaponry -- are completely ignored.
In WWII the Allies didnt mimic their opponents but they didnt hold back from doing what was necessary to win.
I am reminded of a quote by Moshe Dayan “Israel must be like a mad dog, too crazy to bother”. I keep coming back to it, but Israel must be ready to fight these psychopaths with nuclear weapons. Israel cannot let itself be indefinitely paralyzed by rocket attacks by this genocidal, regime. It is perfectly OK for Israel to use them in an existential threat scenario; after all, the USA used them in 1945 even when Japan didn’t pose an existential threat.
Morality is not a suicide pact.
You’re correct. Morality is not a suicide pact, but the use of nuclear weapons is. That can’t happen. Ms. Berg lays out appropriate strategies to help win this war, and she never mentions nuclear weapons. For good reason.
Iran has stated that it will nuke Israel regardless of a nuclear retaliation by Israel. These are not rational actors; they are psychotic insatiable genocidal monsters. Nukes are not only an option to prevent a Second Holocaust, if these Islamonazis are not taken out of power, it will ultimately become the ONLY option.
Israel is doing a fine job without needed nukes--at this time. It should only be used under the most extreme existential condition(s), otherwise, the Jew hater countries (not just in the Mideast) will see it as an excuse to nuke Israel (and they would love any excuse).
You can never appease the Jewhaters so there is no point worrying about them.
They will never like Jews. So make them fear us. Hence my Moshe Dayan quote above
100%. Lots of European countries express condemnation of Israel, but still trade with it.
And that is why Israel is destroying Iran’s capacity to build one. Iran’s theocracy is not a rational actor, you’re right. And Israel is not Iran. Israel is demonstrating the ability to eliminate Iran’s current leadership from defeating Israel.
But unless the Mullahs are removed from power, they will be back with this threat in a few years.
That was an absolutely brilliant article/column. Thank you very much. I posted it to my Facebook page. Go Israel go America. I love you both.
100% correct. Halas! Enough!
Ben Gurion famously said that his wish is for Israel to be both a light unto the nations, and a nation like all others.
That my friends is a non-starter. We can't be both.
Being a light unto other nations does not require providing that light through self immolation.
We have to be Athens when possible, Sparta as required. Thats what’s so hard about it. But it can be done.
Barbarians I’d vote t.
Excellent analysis. Your comparison to asymmetrical warfare is exactly right.
The problem is that this imbalance isn’t only happening on the battlefield — it’s happening in the media as well. Much of the mainstream press seems less interested in explaining the nature of the enemy than in undermining U.S. and Israeli policy. In many cases the narrative ends up amplifying propaganda produced by the very groups that exploit civilians and manipulate images to win the information war.
That makes the battlefield even more uneven. While Iran and its proxies ignore every rule, Western governments fight with military restraints and a media environment that often assumes the worst about its own side.
Your conclusion is the correct one: wars like this cannot be fought as if both sides are playing by the same rules. They aren’t. Recognizing that reality is not abandoning Western values — it’s the only way to ensure they survive.
Israel will need independence from USA armaments which come with usage restrictions.
I am dismayed at how many modern right-wing commentators think that our enemies today are the worst in history. Did Hitler follow Geneva convention? Was Nasser a gentleman? I suppose Saddam Hussein and Moamar Ghaddafi always drank their tea in a proper British manner?
We are where we are thanks to the heroism and hard work of many generations. Churchill, Roosevelt, Marshall, and Eisenhower led the free world against the Nazis. Ben-Gurion, Sharett, Mayan, Golda, Rabin, Begin, Sharon, and others made Israel a great power in the Middle East. Do not discount their achievements. Do not think they were stupid and you know better. Learn from them.
Too many countries and people just don't want to fight these wars. They appeasement and accommodate terrorism, hoping that they will be spared harm as the terrorists and their armies will focus on the US and Israel instead. Nazi Germany played on these same fears and bargaining, but ultimately no one is protected as the terrorists become stronger and more ruthless.
Our youth are soft and feel entitled to live in a world of peace without a need to defend their borders or countries. The fantasy of Marxism and critical theories seem sufficient to destroy our morale and pride. They assume that no war is necessary or just, leaving it to working class people, whether rural or urban, to fight wars to protect the privileged.
This has always been the formula for the expansion of Islam, since it's founding. Chaos and fear, lack of concern for economic development, but focusing instead on weapons, conquest, and the spoils of war. It is easier to take things you want from your neighbors by intimidation than by fair dealings between equals.
When asked whether they would rather respond like the US or like Spain and France, and the UK Labor government, many Americans are unwilling to defend their civilization from the alliance of the far left and Islamism. Many will simply oppose anything Trump does. Frankly, I don't like our odds if Europe continues its appeasement.
I don’t think we have to make war any horrifying than it already is, but we should be prepared for a bitter struggle to setup a better age for Iran. Let’s hold to our values and rules based order.
Excellent. A real pleasure to read. Well argued and written.
I’m sorry but War and baseball differ when it comes to breaking the “rules”. In baseball there is a ruling authority accepted by all the teams. If a player gets caught breaking the rules he is punished and the punishment can be career ending. In war there is no overall ruling authority to make nation states play fair. By and large winning or losing decides who gets punished for breaking someone’s rules.
I agree with pretty much everything Ms. Berg writes, but as President Trump is currently demonstrating with Israel’s partnership, proponents of modern asymmetrical warfare like Iran are capable of being beaten and/or destroyed without us having to abandon our moral principles.
But when I say “we” I am referring to Ms. Berg and myself and the millions of people who agree. Unfortunately when it comes to war and the ROEs of it, there are millions of others who disagree and so, for democracies anyway, it’s off to the ballot box.
Oh that we could return to WW2 where our allied governments decided that the people living in Axis countries needed to feel the effects their armies were perpetrating on innocent civilian populations elsewhere…
But we cannot.
Democracy is messy, and what goes around as a successful military strategy can go around a loooong way before it goes down before an opponent with a better strategy. (See WW2)
The war against Iran is going quite well, don’t you think? And even though we are being quite humane in prosecuting the downfall of that evil religious state, the opposition to the war is hallucinating a conflict that doesn’t exist. And God help us if they win a victory in the American elections this fall.
The rule driven humane sport of baseball is not like war. Only war is like war. Red in tooth and claw, and don’t let anybody trick you into believing otherwise…. But you knew that.
If anyone thinks the worldwide media is going to be objective then I have a bridge for sale in Brooklyn. The West in the form of the US and Israel MUST keep up the pressure on these asymmetrical actors wherever they are. To fail to do so allows them to believe that their sick ideology and religion will prevail. Finally, something I learned at Fort Benning applies to all this. If you get into a fair fight you didn't plan it right.
Western media is complicit with the enemy. Our enemies use of asymmetric warfare could not work if we had a media that was patriotic and at least explained to the public the reason why civilians have been killed which is because the enemy is purposefully using them as human shields. Instead of defending our military, our disgusting fake media condemns our side for civilian deaths and brainwashes many of our own people against us.
Nevertheless, we cannot allow that situation to paralyze us into hesitation or inaction altogether. That is what the terrorists are counting on. They use our own humanity against us. Instead, we need to fight wars with a cold, calculated realism. Whatever civilian deaths occur, the blame completely lies with the enemy. It is they who are guilty of war crimes.
War is not a gentleman’s duel. Fo what you have to do to win, win fast, win hard. Done.
I’m with you broadly.
Perhaps don’t rely so much on AI and its “not X but Y” phrasing of so much of it.
Progressive media in Australia reports to the benefit of the terrorist states attacking Israel -- there is never any context as to the tactics Hezbollah and the IRGC employ, only images of children and stories about pet cats and homes being evacuated. I don't mean to seem insensitive, but the cognitive dissonance is real. The genocidal goals and actions of these states -- missiles, suicide bombings, nuclear weaponry -- are completely ignored.