Strawmen are a favorite of political essay, making fun of an idea line.
I feel maybe progressive, but I wouldn’t deny there aren’t meaningful results from war. What I don’t agree is that lives lost are needed for political change, I’d rather wage peace. There is no final war that solves forever. We need to learn to not war. Treat every life as precious, not needed for sacrifice.
"After suffering terribly on October 7, Israel has pulverized Hamas, ending the threat it posed as an organized military force. The challenge it now faces in Gaza is a humanitarian and administrative crisis, not a security one. Israel has likewise shattered Hezbollah in Lebanon, forcing it to accept a cease-fire after losing not only thousands of foot soldiers but much of its middle management and senior leadership. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin’s brutal but botched war of conquest in Ukraine has undermined his other strategic goals. In Syria, Russia’s one solid foothold in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine has leached away Russian forces, depriving it of the ability to influence events."
That's one way of looking at it. Could we also be against all deaths, the thousand on October 7th, and the over 40K since then? I'm sorry but Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Islam and Christianity are too into war.
Who's denying there isn't meaningful change. Don't you think you should quote someone identified as progressive saying that? Is the meaningful change worth the lives sacrificed? Cohen seems to say yes. Lets sacrifice others lives for our own survival and existential sense of safety. There is no safety even when you win the wars. Not to the dead people, even on your side. Death is a negative outcome.
What he's not getting is that Iran isn't waging war to win, Russia is not waging war to win, they're waging war by a thousand cuts, to disrupt and keep unity and common purposes at bay. Russia is not the enemy, Iran is not the enemy. The enemy is inside us, such that we need to war. War is just the internal conflict inside us, that is externalized. Cloak it in macho practicality for action all you want.
Cohen seems to enjoy that the tide may have temporarily turned and yet he admits, "Although wars may eliminate one set of problems or strategic circumstances, they usually create a new set."
Cohen seems to have a political agenda in putting down Biden: "The Biden administration’s calls for a cease-fire in Syria were pointless and ineffectual. Along with its failure to anticipate the collapse of our Afghan allies in 2021, and its inability to do more in Ukraine than provide enough weapons to prevent Kyiv’s defeat, it shows what happens when strategic thought withers into good intentions and wishful thinking."
How about we cease to participate in negative outcomes, and see the negative side of war?
He seems to think Trump will be more decisive. Indeed, the Jewish people in my neighborhood love Trump, voted for him, name their children Elon.
He ends, "The events of the past weeks may yet lead Trump to conclude that this is really not the best time to begin a witch hunt for wokesters in the U.S. military. And, if he is confirmed as secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth may yet learn that female pilots can drop bombs with the best of them."
How could Cohen write a book with this title? The Hollow Crown: Shakespeare on How Leaders Rise, Rule, and Fall. His insight seems to fail him, as he can both see the folly of war and then loses that insight in a zeal for "action".
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