Unconditional Surrender
If it was good enough for Churchill...
In November 1942, Allied forces, led by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, launched Operation Torch, an amphibious invasion of French North Africa. The landings were planned as a pincer movement, with American troops landing on Morocco's Atlantic coast and Anglo-American forces on Algeria's Mediterranean coast. The primary objective was to secure a foothold in the region, which was crucial for the Allied effort against the Axis powers.
Two months later, on January 14, 1943, President Roosevelt and UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill met in Casablanca, Morocco, to coordinate Allied military strategy against the Axis powers over the coming year.
Of course, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin was invited as well, but was unable to attend since his Red Army was knee deep in the final stages of its counteroffensive against the German 6th Army in the Battle of Stalingrad.
The Casablanca Conference lasted for ten days, during which the American and British leaders agreed that the first order of business would be to concentrate their efforts in the Mediterranean by launching an invasion of Sicily and the Italian mainland in an effort to knock Italy out of the war.
On the final day of the conference, Roosevelt announced to the world that he and his British counterpart had concluded that the only way to ensure postwar peace was to adopt a policy of unconditional surrender.
“Unconditional" meant that there would be no negotiated settlement like the one that led to the World War I armistice, which allowed Germany to retain a degree of autonomy and later fueled resentment over the Treaty of Versailles.
Instead, the Axis powers would be compelled to immediately cease all hostilities, surrender without condition, and submit to Allied authority.
No ifs, ands, or buts.
The president did make quite clear, however, that the objective of that policy was not the destruction of the populations of Axis nations but rather, "the destruction of the philosophies in those countries which are based on conquest and the subjugation of other people."
Fast forward to 2025 and, for some reason, Churchill’s successor and his cronies seem unwilling to afford Israel the same degree of strategic latitude, even as it continues to grapple with an existential threat at its very doorstep.
Earlier today, Britain halted its free-trade talks with Israel and pledged to take “concrete actions” should the Jewish state continue with its new military offensive in Gaza.