Tolerability versus Desirability in Warfare

War fighters are not like pizza where the more one eats pizza, the more one grows tired of it. There is a law of diminishing return, but that law in warfare is not two dimensional. An American presence in Iraq for some sects never has been desirable, has always been desirable for others, or becomes desirable when circumstances require a continuing American presence. Khalid al-Ansary and Ali Adeeb reported this Sunday in the New York Times, "As sectarian violence soars, many Sunni Arab political and religious leaders once staunchly opposed to the American presence here are now saying they need American troops to protect them from the rampages of Shiite militias and Shiite-run government forces." (see story above) They reported that such Iraqis reasoned that while American forces recently committed violent crime against civilians, there was no comparison at all with the scale and frequency of terrorist and insurgent crime and violence against Iraqi civilians. There is a dimension, then, of what is tolerable relative to what is desirable. American forces in Iraq may not be desirable, but recurrent terrorist and insurgent violence is intolerable. Therefore, it is better to continue to maintain an American presence than to allow ongoing crime and violence. Instead of the law being one of diminishing return, then, one might say that it is a law of tolerability versus desirability.

Like the Americans, the Israelis face difficult challenges at home, around the world, and with their enemy. It is equally the case that their presence in any given wartime situation is one of tolerability versus desirability. Even if the Israeli campaign is not desirable to the ordinary Lebanese that never thinks about Hezbollah or Hamas, the Israelis will demonstrate to him how such a campaign is more tolerable than recurring terrorist and insurgent violence against anyone. Consequently, the Lebanese, despite his feelings toward Israelis or their presence, will not grow weary of that presence over time.