John Spencer: a "pro-truth" perspective on Israel and Gaza?
John Spencer has been quite vocal about the Israel-Hamas war for a while now. In the above video, he is interviewed by Noam Dwarman (podcaster and owner of The Comedy Cellar). I hadn’t heard of either of them before, and it’s quite a long interview, so I wasn’t planning on watching the whole thing. But then I did, and I’m glad I got to hear their perspectives. You can take that as a recommendation.
According to his bio, Spencer is “an award-winning scholar, professor, author, combat veteran, national security and military analyst, and internationally recognized expert and advisor on urban warfare, military strategy, tactics, and other related topics.” He is also the Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point. His vast experience and expertise are clear enough, but his military associations may lead a lot of people on the Left to dismiss what he has to say—especially since he has a lot of good things to say about Israel. He says he is not “pro-Israel,” but only “pro-truth.” Still, I hesitated before sharing this video, because I am afraid it will be dismissed by the people who I believe could benefit the most from understanding it.
As you would expect, he approaches military analysis in general, and this conflict in particular, with calculating precision. Many on the Left may interpret it as a heartless disregard for human life. I do not interpret it that way, but I can understand why others might. He also presents a flattering view of the US military, which also will not go down well with left-wing audiences—me included. However, this should not prevent him from being able to make valuable contributions to the discussion. At least he acknowledges that the US military has made mistakes in the past (which, he says, it has learned from). Anyway, I don’t think anything he says here disqualifies him from having a voice. I should add here that it is also frustrating that his speech is occasionally hurried and unfocused, because it can interfere with communication. Fortunately, I think everything he says is clear enough—if you are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when his words occasionally fail to convey his meaning as well as he might have liked.
Fortunately, Dwarman does a decent job of contextualising the arguments and issues (in the interests of good journalism, he says), which mitigates all of these problems to some degree. Still, people might use some of Spencer’s assumptions and allegiances as justification for ignoring him completely. I would not attribute that reaction to stupidity or ignorance. It is just human nature. The stronger our political views, the less we are open to contrary narratives. This is not unusual or necessarily even bad. So I cannot be surprised or upset if anti-Zionists hear all sorts of alarm bells going off during the video, and if that drives them away. I hope some will be able to quiet the alarms enough to hear what Spencer has to say. I don’t like everything he says, either, but we do not need to agree with all of his points in order to learn something from his observations and experience.
Spencer’s writing on the conflict has appeared in a wide variety of media outlets with a broad range of political leanings. He has published a lot of commentary on Newsweek over the past six months; for example, an opinion piece in January praising Israel’s attempts to prevent civilian casualties. He has also written sympathetically about Israel’s efforts in Gaza at CNN. Then there are his thoughts on the 45-minute video of October 7, which he published at Soldier of Fortune magazine—a fact which will surely raise a lot of eyebrows. Apparently the online media outlet, under new leadership, is trying to overcome a lot of the bad reputation earned by the print publication. In any case, I think it is an important read, but it is a harrowing one. It has convinced me that I do not ever want to see that video for myself.
I am mortified by the thought that the October 7 video is out there, available for viewing, at all. It is not just the rape, mutilation and slaughter of hundreds of innocent civilians of all ages, and it’s not just the fact that there is video documenting such events. It’s also that the terrorists themselves are responsible for much of the footage, that they uploaded the footage on social media to terrorize the victims’ families and friends, as well as the entire population of Israel and beyond. The footage should not exist—not just because it depicts moral outrages, but because it was made in order to commit further moral outrages. And so I do not feel a moral obligation to bear witness by watching the video. And from everything I have heard, watching it would only cause trauma.
On the other hand, some people should watch it. The people who are tasked with fully understanding and responding to October 7, for example. Also, the people who deny that the horrors are real or, like Judith Butler, who deny that it should be called “terrorism.” And the people like Jodi Dean, who defend and even romanticize the attackers for being brave enough to fight for “freedom.” I think maybe they should all watch it. As for me and probably for you, reading Spencer’s account is enough.