There is a word that has been used for sometime now, and I heard it used again recently in an announcement by a US military spokesperson. The word is “manage” and it is often used to mean: “we are in control of the situation, even though we are not really.”
When using the word manage in a political or military context it has come to mean a lack of will to take steps necessary to deal with a situation or problem.
The word was used regarding how the US is going to deal with the Houthis (an Iranian sponsored military group) attacks on international shipping. There were some other comments made like “not wanting to expand the Gaza war into a regional conflict’ or ‘considering all our options’ which I have come to understand as, we will let it slide for now.
The word “manage” was often used by the Israeli government and military regarding Hamas in Gaza, Palestinian terrorism emanating from Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and attacks by Hezbollah. In these situations it usually meant accepting a limited number of deaths and attacks before actually having to do anything to bring the situation “back under control.” All we have managed to do is bring on the massacre of our civilians and the unnecessary death of additional soldiers.
I cringe now when I hear the word because it is a sign of failure by the powers that be. I have been sleeping for too long and I regret that it took the horrific events of Oct. 7th to wake me up.
The action of the Houthis should not be met by US demands on Israel to stand down and let the US military deal with the problem. It should not be managed with weeks of talks, warnings and bluster. It should not be managed by omission, by not holding the Iranians responsible for this situation.
The US, and Israel for that matter, could have shut down the Houthis very quickly. The same is true for the Iranian militias in Syria who have killed a handful of US soldiers and injured scores of others.
Just as Israel failed to manage the situation in Gaza, the US is failing to manage the current threats. Instead of reducing the risk of regional conflict they are only making it more likely.
Meir