We’ve done well with our one proxy War, the one between Russia and Ukraine. We’ve spoken up and armed up for babies, mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, grandfathers – all slaughtered or maimed for not giving up their freedom.
We also delayed sending the arms they most need, like F-16’s and Abrams tanks and long range missiles, because, hey, who wants to poke The Bear too hard, right? I mean he might actually be crazy enough to uncork a Nuke or two, despite knowing he’d be annihilated if he did… or at least rattle them.
Kind of like how England’s Chamberlain avoided WWII.
Instead of sending Ukraine its most needed weapons, we have sent them enough lessor ones (missile, shells, etc..) to keep the war going, but not really win it, and, in doing so depleted our own supplies, you know, the ones we would use if, say, we got into a battle with Mexico or their cartels over drugs (OK, not likely, but actually proposed recently in the Presidential campaign). So no worries. Right?
Still, the last thing any of us needs is a second proxy war. Right?
Like, say, between Israel and Hamas/Palestine. We turned our eyes for years as Israel put it’s knee to the neck of Palestine, hoping it wouldn’t actually get too unpleasant. Because, hey, without Israel’s help, who would help us keep Iran in check? So we just kept hoping Palestine’s terrorist street gang, Hamas, would just boil and not boil over.
But boil over is exactly what they did. With Iran cheering from supply depots and training centers, Hamas feigned few arms and lack of urgency and caught Israel flat-footed, wreaking agony and devastation back on Israeli.
Yep, that’s the same Iran whose relationship with Russia goes back to the 1500’s and who has been shipping swarms of drones to Russia for it’s war with Ukraine.
And, yep, that’s the same Iran whose relationship with China goes back to circa 200 BC and who signed a 2021 agreement with China re-cementing economic and strategic ties.
Meanwhile the US, which successfully fought a two-front war in WWII, decided around ten years ago that maintaining military capability for a two-front actual war was too costly. So now we have a two-front proxy war.
Boy, it’s really lucky that China, which has been threatening to take back Taiwan despite our macho warnings, hasn’t actually done so.
Unless Xi now decides we’re properly distracted and does attack Taiwan, presenting us with a third separate proxy war.
Or, he teams up with Russia and Iran for a three-front actual war…or…WWIII…
But hey, no chance of that, right?