The Cancer War Victory Compromised
Continuing my analogy of cancer treatment and America’s war strategies, I want to contrast two periods of our war history.
Generally, two types of political approaches have characterized the wars of the past century. In WWI and WWII, political influences were directed almost entirely to uncompromising victory. How we won was less important than the determination to win. The victory over the European Axis was through the overwhelming employment of conventional forces. The victory over Japan was through the ultimate in unconventional force–the atomic bomb. Total victory in WWII was through the combination of conventional and unconventional weaponry. It took something fierce and previously unknown to bring Japan to a declaration of surrender. On the other hand, the Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq wars were replete with political complexity. Winning was not as important as how we would win. The troops and their commanders were under countless constraints while Washington debated political ramifications. The nation’s industries were not on a wartime footing, but essentially doing business as usual. The American citizens were much less committed to victory than they were in the World Wars. Compare the results.
Today, our arch enemy is not a nation. It is terrorism carried out by radical fundamentalists. Like cancer, this enemy doesn’t identify itself until it is too late. Then it goes into hiding among the normal, noncombatant population. Conventional warfare is virtually useless against. Yet that is in large measure what we are fighting it with. Terrorism can only be defeated by unconventional means, much of which may not have even been discovered or invented yet.
The war on cancer will only be won with the political and cultural resolve of the World Wars including their use of the unconventional. We cannot continue to fight it the way we fought North Korea, North Vietnam, and Iraq. Conventional therapy is still needed, but we must have the resolve to also bring in the unconventional, natural, and non-toxic complements necessary for ultimate victory. Such is the goal of this blog and web site.