Just over a week after October 7, while Israel was still reeling from the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, President Joe Biden descended on Tel Aviv to warn people not to repeat America's mistakes. . Mr. Biden was thinking of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the series of (some would say unfortunate) U.S. military interventions that followed. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is also concerned. Israel faced the possibility of 'strategic defeat' In the war against Hamas, he added, “You know, I learned a thing or two about urban warfare from my time fighting in Iraq and leading the operation to defeat ISIS.” Israel does not seem to be heeding the advice of its most powerful ally. why?
Because Israeli officials have a different analogy in mind. During the final two months of the Israel-Hamas war, while American failures in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past several generations have troubled American policymakers, Israeli leaders have begun to explore another end-of-life state. I'm planning it. They compare the war with Hamas to the war with Nazi Germany and argue that: Post-war Gaza should follow the path of post-war Germany..
In his wonderful book, “Similarities in war” Yuen Hung Cong examines how policymakers use analogies to justify their actions and rationalize difficult decisions. Israel is at war with Hamas, and so are these parables. Understanding them is essential to understanding how wars are fought and how they end.
Similar wars have surfaced in debates over Israeli tactics and strategy. Both Americans and Israelis use analogies to advance their own narratives and preferred positions. U.S. officials chastened by the U.S. experience Including members of Congress who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.has encouraged Israelis to use less aggressive tactics when fighting urban warfare in Gaza, one of the world's most densely populated areas. As Israel planned ground operations in Gaza, the United States sent Marine General James Glynn to Israel as an advisor. Citing the experience in Iraq. Ironically, even as American policymakers widely recognize the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as strategic failures, they encourage Israel to adopt similar tactics.
Meanwhile, operations against ISIS by U.S. military commanders are Compared to the destructive urban warfare of World War II And even though the war, which former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis described as a “war of annihilation,” had to displace hundreds of thousands of civilians and reduce cities like Raqqa and Mosul to rubble. It somehow became an example for the United States of successfully carrying out counter-terrorism and urban warfare.Moreover, under mounting national and international pressure, Biden Israel accused of 'indiscriminate bombing' The Gaza Strip evokes images of World War II. American officials liken Israel's tactics to World War II and warn that it faces a strategic defeat comparable to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Israelis came to the opposite conclusion. In their defense, they cite American and Western military operations in urban environments. From World War II to the present. They liken the IDF's tactics in Gaza to those of the United States in Iraq and Syria, arguing: Ratio of civilians to combatants Killed is comparable. Israeli leaders also reminded U.S. leaders that: The Allies indiscriminately bombed German and Japanese cities. They worked hard to win World War II. Notably, Israelis reject the comparison in terms of tactics, but have nonetheless recently used it as evidence of a strategic end state. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett reiterated.
The very analogies that currently dominate the minds of American officials are the product of the similarity wars during America's interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.Like an Israeli, George W. Bush mentioned World War II To explain his decision.But Bush's successor, Barack Obama, took a hard look at the war. vietnamese lens. America's own experience with analogies in war can therefore provide the basis for: Human resources director McMaster calls it “strategic empathy.” And it should inform the ongoing dialogue between American and Israeli officials.
The real challenge for both America and Israel is the power analogies have over policymakers and the public. The Americans are trying to use the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to pressure Israel to change tactics and reconsider its strategy. The Israelis took advantage of World War II to justify the war and defend their decisions. Through their choice of metaphors, they reveal whether they are optimistic or pessimistic about the outcome of the war. If American government officials continue to view the war through the analogy of Iraq and Afghanistan, they will: likely to support ceasefire or take other steps to try to change Israel's behavior. If Israeli officials continue to stick to the World War II model, the war is likely to continue as before.
As the war in Gaza intensifies, so too does the war over similarity. We must remember that they are just analogies. The reality of these wars was much more complex, and their outcomes were not predetermined. In fact, as time passes, the war between Israel and Hamas may one day be compared to the war itself.
Jeff Rogg is an assistant professor at the Joint Special Operations University. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not represent the views of the U.S. government, Department of Defense, U.S. Special Operations Command, or the Joint Special Operations University.
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