Washington is frustrated that beyond bombing Gaza Netanyahu is failing to identify war aims the US thinks are attainable
An enduring British conceit, even after revelations about the ugliness of the 1950s anti-Mau Mau struggle, is that our forebears did imperial counter-insurgency nicely. In reality, while we were less cruel than the French and much less so than the Belgians, British operations relied more heavily upon force than hearts and minds.
In Kenya, though modern local estimates of 90,000 dead seem wildly exaggerated, a million people were relocated into “protected villages” and disease-ridden camps. It is sometimes claimed that we were victorious in Malaya thanks to Gen Sir Gerald Templer’s brilliant tactics. More important were Malayan loathing for the Chinese insurgents and London’s promise of independence.
If I were Israel I would not be providing the Biden regime with any more than the minimum needed.
