Let's stop thinking that the price of defending our freedom can be lowered by building a military capable of denying an enemy a cheap victory rather than by smashing and defeating their military if they attack.
We commemorate Victory in Europe (VE) Day and Victory over Japan (VJ) Day. Enemies should fear those outcomes rather than being on the losing end of the theoretical calculation.
So I heartily endorse this advice for military capabilities:
Getting all of the partners and allies in the region involved in exercises and “demonstrating on a daily basis … that you’re prepared to fight and win a war should you need to is really the ultimate way to deter a war,” [Brig. Gen. Anthony Mastalir, commander of U.S. Space Forces Indo-Pacific] said.
Too often the quest for enough military power to deter an enemy attack focuses simply on making the cost too high for the enemy to bear. Sadly, this relies on accurately predicting how much the enemy is willing to lose to win.
I sure blew that one on Russia--although grant me credit on accurately judging Russia's military prior to the Winter War of 2022.
Deterring an enemy just seems like a quest for a cheap silver bullet weapon to lift the burden of being prepared to fight and win a war as the ultimate deterrence.
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
NOTE: I'm adding updates on the Last Hamas War in this post.NOTE: You may also read my posts on Substack, at The Dignified Rant: Evolved. Go ahead and subscribe to it.
