tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post6672660643368696353..comments2024-03-28T18:32:05.933-04:00Comments on bensozia: The Price of InterventionJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-40504394924085944512015-11-15T19:12:59.059-05:002015-11-15T19:12:59.059-05:00"If we are going to make war against a danger...<i>"If we are going to make war against a dangerous enemy, shouldn't we do it in a serious way, with an actual plan for winning?"</i><br /><br />You might be amazed how much of warfare in history has been carried out unseriously and without plans for winning - particularly in the Middle East.<br /><br />From the disastrous Christian Crusades to retake the Holy Lands, all the way up to the recent war with Iraq that made the rise of ISIS possible, the overwhelming trend has been to just "Wing it and see what happens". Predictably, it typically hasn't ended well, even when the wars "succeeded".<br /><br />But when you don't care enough to wage serious war, or if do care but are overwhelmed by emotion to the point of abandoning logic, what else do you expect to achieve? The French people by and large don't care to fight ISIS anymore than anyone else. They have no major motivations to do so, other than fulfilling political agreements with allies, and now perhaps lashing out in anger at being attacked.<br /><br />The same sort of mentality was present in Europe when the Ottoman Turks first pushed across the straights from Anatolia into the Balkans. For decades they made war on European Christians, snapping up land, destroying trade, and waging bitter war against weak single targets while all their potential allies were busy with other concerns.<br /><br />Concerned parties called for help, tried to rally Europe, but Europe just let events unfold. Byzantium fell and there was great anguish, but no action. The Balkan states fell and only a few parties seemed to care. The Venetians waged a desperate 20 year war against the Sultan, continually trying to rally the other Italian states and the Pope to defend Europe, and no one listened. When Turkish raiders started appearing in Northern Italy, some finally realized their plight and began to panic and try to organize, but it was far too late. The Venetians had been crippled by the continual loss of vital ports, and with them the greatest Western sea power available to contest the Turkish onslaught. Without naval superiority, Europe had no real chance of stopping the massive Turkish armies.<br /><br />I imagine most Europeans are loath to get involved against what they see as a distant threat that doesn't concern them, and I imagine they will tend to remain that way until they are undeniably, directly threatened into taking action - at which point, it may be a bit late.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.com