May 25, 2021

A Ceasefire Solves Nothing

A ceasefire is worse than a truce and even a truce is no substitute for victory.

In outlining the goal for winning the Persian Gulf War against Saddam Hussein for invading and occupying Kuwait in 1991, Gen. Colin Powell, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, “Our strategy to go after this army is very, very simple. First, we’re going to cut it off, and then we’re going to kill it.”

The ceasefire announced last week between the terrorist organization Hamas and the state of Israel is the opposite of that strategy and solves nothing. As with previous ceasefires it simply gives Hamas an opportunity to regroup and reload in time for the next assault, perhaps with even more sophisticated and deadly weapons supplied by Iran.

Some critics of Israel said that it did not respond “proportionately” to the Hamas attacks. Was proportionality a consideration after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor? President Truman ordered nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki because Japan refused to surrender at the end of World War II. Did we respond proportionately to the threat from Nazi Germany when we carpet bombed German cities, especially Dresden?

Winston Churchill put it best when he stated the goal of Allied forces: “What is our aim? … Victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror; victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.”

The Biden administration has pledged to help rebuild Gaza with money we don’t have. Yes, we rebuilt Germany under the Marshall Plan following World War II, but that was after we won the war. We did the same for Japan, after achieving victory.

Israel should never have withdrawn from Gaza. It did not take a prophet to know what would follow its unilateral decision. At the time, I wrote that Gaza would become one more base for terrorists to launch attacks against the Jewish state. Under pressure from the U.S. and Europe to withdraw from Gaza, Israel gained nothing, but instead lost another level of security.

As U.S. blogger Larry Levine has written: “Israel needs to take over Gaza, kill all Hamas terrorists and demilitarize it. This time when the world rebuilds, it will not be with Hamas at the helm. There will be casualties, but no country in the world can live like this.”

President Biden has withheld direct criticism of Israel, possibly because of his longtime friendship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but others in his administration, who are veterans of the Obama years, have a track record of favoring Israel’s enemies.

Still, Biden has said a “two-state” solution is the best approach to resolving the conflict that existed even before Israel’s re-establishment in its ancient homeland in 1948. The problem is and always has been that radicals desire a one-state solution that doesn’t include Israel or the Jewish people. Since these radicals believe their motivation is rooted in their religion, it is impossible for them to make peace with a nation and a people they believe their god wants destroyed.

The Economist magazine gets it. In its May 20 edition it said, “Even with a ceasefire, Israel and Hamas will not stop fighting each other. The agreement to restore calm is welcome. Pity it won’t last.”

The response to this continuing warfare should not be a false sense of satisfaction about a ceasefire, or a pledge to rebuild Gaza while the terrorist occupiers re-arm. Rather, Israel should be encouraged to wipe out the terrorists who do not even put the interests of their own people first.

A ceasefire is worse than a truce and even a truce is no substitute for victory.

©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.