Defending ourselves

Diana West:

Quick -- somebody promote Lt. Cmdr. Erik Horner for good instincts. "We not only have a right to self-defense but also an obligation to self-defense," the second-in-command officer of the USS Underwood said, referring to the surrender by 15 British sailors in Iraqi waters to Iranian forces last week. "[The British] had every right to defend themselves rather than allow themselves to be taken. Our reaction was, 'Why didn't you guys defend yourselves?' "
Better to ask why the larger Western world didn't teach these sailors to defend themselves, both as their personal right and their societal obligation. And speaking of societal obligations, could someone please explain why the sailor-mother of a three-year-old -- now imprinted on history for performing the hostage-squirm in a Muslim headscarf -- was required on this mission in the first place? But I digress (sort of).
When a civilization no longer inculcates an overriding attachment to its own survival, well, it no longer survives as a civilization. In peacetime, the disintegration appears more theoretical. In wartime, the holes really begin to show.
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This is incredible. This seemingly immutable restriction suggests that, according to current military and civilian thinking -- which together reflect a pretty clear consensus of elites -- the lives of allies under fire are of no greater value or significance than the lives of enemy sympathizers. And the enemy knows this, in Iraq and beyond, no doubt reveling in the safe haven of our fantastic objectivity.
Such rules and restrictions, the product of politically correct developments in Western culture, foster a non-combative theory of combat. Surrender is an expression of this culture; so are rules of engagement that risk the lives of our people. Such a culture, whether acting by the book or by consensus, hardly supports a soldier's right and obligation to self-defense, let alone unleashes the warrior in pursuit of anything resembling victory. Which isn't to say this cultural trend is irreversible. But we must learn to see the holes before we can plug them up.

While counterinsurgency warfare theory suggest one should avoid firing when possible, it can clearly be carried to extremes. This is particularly the case in the Iranian situation where there is no credible suggestion that insurgents were involved. The British policy has made their situation worse and themselves look weak. It is very Carteresque and it will achieve about what that failure of a President did.