A Brief Thought on Liberal Democracies in War

We have just seen through the example of Israel's Gaza campaign the labyrinthine complications a liberal democracy takes upon itself when engaging in asymmetrical warfare against a poorer, undemocratic foe. The specific amount of force Israel used allowed it to destroy a large number of military targets while not destroying Hamas' military capabilities. The number of civilian deaths was such that it roused international anger but not to the point that it shocked the world's conscience.

In dealing a heavy but not knockout blow to Hamas and in riling world opinion against itself while not decisively concluding its business in Gaza, Israel fell victim to the impossible balancing act that liberal democracies set up for themselves in wartime. The ethical standards prevalent in these societies serve to ensure that conclusive military victories are rarely achievable in the event they require extensive time commitments, large numbers of soldiers, and--most importantly--the utter abandonment of the rules of war.

I don't know how liberal democracies should address this strategic and moral quandary, but I think we shouldn't be afraid of considering the benefits of unleashing such a tremendous level of violence that it redefines the physical reality of the military theater and the metaphysical reality of the enemy. I mean a level of violence that, in Gaza for example, would make it unthinkable for Hamas leaders to come out of hiding after the conflict and declare victory and stage parades and begin to rearm anew. I mean a level of violence that would cause what few Hamas members remained to survey the complete devastation of their surroundings, to confront the undeniable fact that they did not win because everything from their possessions to their family to their very land was destroyed, and to come face to face with an irrefregable new reality that comprehensively refutes the ideology that prevailed thitherto.

I'm only theorizing and have no solutions, but we should consider the transformative power of psychological trauma, induced by shocking levels of violence, and its potential to reconfigure the realities of the enemies of civilization.