Although the United States is widely acknowledged as the most powerful military force on earth, we haven’t decisively won a war since the hawkish-sounding Department of War became the peaceful-sounding Department of Defense, way back in 1947. 

We’ve never actually lost a war. Frankly we never came very close, not since the successful conclusion of our second and last war with Great Britain.

Still, we managed to “invite” replays of major wars. For instance, When World War I ended with an armistice instead of a decisive victory, it set the stage for World War II. By learning our lessons, it became possible to achieve a better outcome the second time.  In addition to World War I, we’ve re-fought several wars, including the First Gulf War.

Today is Yom Kippur and our only real ally in the eastern Mediterranean, Israel, has fought nearly as many wars between 1947 and 2025 as the United States has from 1775 to 2025.  In doing so, they’ve learned the difference between a victory and – while not absolute defeat, at least, so far – a non-victory. The United States equivocal commitment is a major factor here. 

Take, for instance, Biden’s “unequivocal” support for a “whatever it takes” campaign against Gaza following the devastating Oct. 7, 2023 slaughter of more than 1,200 innocents. Their support from Biden lasted less than three weeks, blowing away like sand in a desert windstorm. 

On the other hand, during the Twelve Day War against Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Israel received strong support from a very different American president, Donald Trump. Added to consistent political support for Israel, he also ordered U.S. Navy ships to provide an anti-missile shield over Israel, expending roughly 40 percent of America’s most capable anti-missile missile systems – the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) AAM. These helped protect Israel from Iranian kamikaze drones and long-range ballistic missiles. 

Toward the end of that war – one airstrike ended it – seven of America’s B-2A Spirit stealth bombers demolished three extremely deep Iranian bunkers.  Each aircraft deployed two of the world’s largest and most effective non-nuclear deep penetrators – GBU-57 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs. These shattered deeply buried technology critical to the making of Iran’s planned atom bombs. 

Once Iran realized the awesome power of these weapons, as well as America’s ability to deploy more of them at will, the war swiftly concluded.  The........

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