Our National Weakness?!

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

In the spin up to this current conflict, the host asked many guests what casualty/fatality count they thought the nation could bear.  I hated the question, but understood its political wisdom.  The question is a concession to this nation’s extremely limited tolerance for difficulty.  I live in one of the earlier settled parts of the continent and all around me are signs of that early settlement.  It was a hard, difficult life.  The contrast between how difficult life was for those that founded this nation and the small tolerance we have today for such difficulty is breathtaking.

This conflict with Iran has come at a cost.  Given the damage done to the regime in that country, that cost is astoundingly low.  And yet the numbers of wounded and dead are thrown around dishonorably as weapons to argue the conflict is not worth it – never considering that that scale pan is balanced against the tens of thousands of their own citizens murdered by the regime and all the losses that Israel has suffered over the decades, not to mention the thousands of dead Americans in terror attacks visited upon us my Iranian proxies.

Any professional and objective evaluation of this campaign must arrive at a conclusion of it being an extraordinary military campaign, extremely well executed: (HT: John Ellis)

Two weeks into Operation Epic Fury, the dominant narrative has settled into a comfortable groove: The United States and Israel stumbled into a war without a plan. Iran is retaliating across the region. Oil prices are surging, and the world is facing another Middle Eastern quagmire. US senators have called it a blunder. Cable news has tallied the crises. Commentators have warned of a long war.

The chorus is loud and, in some respects, understandable. War is ugly, and this one has imposed real costs on millions of people across the Middle East, including the city I live in.

But this narrative is wrong. Not because the costs are imaginary, but because the critics are measuring the wrong things. They are cataloguing the price of the campaign while ignoring the strategic ledger.

When you look at what has actually happened to Iran’s principal instruments of power – its ballistic missile arsenal, its nuclear infrastructure, its air defences, its navy and its proxy command architecture – the picture is not one of US failure. It is one of systematic, phased degradation of a threat that previous administrations allowed to grow for four decades.

Yes, this is hard, yes this is difficult, yes it hurts, but we are winning and winning big.

I admitted over the weekend to being under the influence of pain medications because I had knee replacement surgery last Wednesday.  I swore off those meds Sunday morning.  I had such an adverse reaction (believe me when I tell you – you don’t want to know)  during the night Saturday that I would rather cope with the pain than the side effects.  Pain is a part of healing, and fighting against it is, to some extent, fighting against the healing process itself.  The pain of this conflict is healing the world – it is worth bearing.

As I have dealt with my own pain, I have oft recited a scriptural passage that I hold dear:

And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

This conflict is indeed difficult and at times painful.  But more than a war won will come from it, if we are open to it.  Hope will be restored and character will once again matter.  America will be better.  All we have to do is persevere.