What happened to war?

What happened to war?

I hope that any of my friends and colleagues, or former colleagues, who are affected by the political reconstruction, will make allowance, all allowance, for any lack of ceremony with which it has been necessary to act. I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this government: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realised; no survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the ages, that mankind will move forward towards its goal. But I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. At this time I feel entitled to claim the aid of all, and I say, "come then, let us go forward together with our united strength."

...

And now it has come to us to stand alone in the breach, and face the worst that the tyrant's might and enmity can do. Bearing ourselves humbly before God, but conscious that we serve an unfolding purpose, we are ready to defend our native land against the invasion by which it is threatened. We are fighting by ourselves alone; but we are not fighting for ourselves alone. Here in this strong City of Refuge which enshrines the title—deeds of human progress and is of deep consequence to Christian civilization; here, girt about by the seas and oceans where the Navy reigns; shielded from above by the prowess and devotion of our airmen—we await undismayed the impending assault. Perhaps it will come tonight. Perhaps it will come next week. Perhaps it will never come. We must show ourselves equally capable of meeting a sudden violent shock or—what is perhaps a harder test—a prolonged vigil. But be the ordeal sharp or long, or both, we shall seek no terms, we shall tolerate no parley; we may show mercy-we shall ask for none.

Should the invader come to Britain, there will be no placid lying down of the people in submission before him, as we have seen, alas, in other countries. We shall defend every village, every town, and every city. The vast mass of London itself, fought street by street, could easily devour an entire hostile army; and we would rather see London laid in ruins and ashes than that it should be tamely and abjectly enslaved.

What happened to men like Sir Winston Churchill? What happened to words like these? What happened to pansy-up the world so that war no longer means defending your country and your people and what is right against terror at all costs? What in the world did this generation learn in school about the great wars of the past, that made them expect something less than "blood, toil, tears and sweat...[and] many, many long months of struggle and of suffering"?

Since when is defense of all that is good and right in the world against those who would wield sadistic terror for the purposes of their own power not the right action—no matter the cost, no matter the fear?

I truly think we have a world of people, primarily the fat-and-happy Americans, who no longer believe in anything worth fighting for. Except, perhaps, the right to criticize those who would fight. Sure, war is always wrong if you think there is no such cause. But I say mankind would have perished long ago if there were no cause on this earth worth fighting for, suffering for, and dying for. Have we so forgotten the wars of the past? The war that birthed this nation? The wars that have preserved peace and liberty for the world? To broadly criticize war as "not the answer...ever" is to say that we should not be where we are now, and arguably would undo every vestige of freedom we enjoy today.

I believe this speech by Churchill is truly great, and I agree with what he says. But just imagine Dubya giving this kind of speech. And they call him a warmonger now! Think of the political fallout if we adopted a policy like that. But wait:

Think of the victory we'd achieve.

"I feel sure that our cause [would] not be suffered to fail among men."