The Meaning of Unconditional Surrender

The more one learns of the terms of the peace pact President Trump has e-signed with Iran, the greater the concerns. The heart of the problem is that the pact leaves in place the Tehran regime, while leaving unresolved the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Vice President Vance today suggested that Iran could be eligible for $300 billion in aid from a “reconstruction fund.” What happened to Mr. Trump’s goal of “unconditional surrender?”Those were the words, after all, that the commander in chief used at the outset to describe America’s war aims in the conflict against Iran. “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER,” the president exclaimed in March on his Truth Social platform. At the time, the Times sniffed that the goal was “prompting questions” about “the pragmatism of an all-or-nothing approach.” The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, later dialed back Mr. Trump’s mission statement. She said the goal would be met when Mr. Trump “determines that Iran no longer poses a threat to the United States of America” and his military objectives regarding the Tehran regime had “been fully realized.” Per Ms. Leavitt, at that point “Iran will essentially be in a place of unconditional surrender,” no matter “whether they say it themselves or not.” That’s not quite the definition of unconditional surrender, though, as it was pioneered by General Ulysses Grant and his wartime commander in chief, President Lincoln. Nor was such equivocation tolerated by America’s World War II-era presidents, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. These former presidents all appeared to be made of sterner stuff when it came to the need to see wars through to a victorious end.Grant’s first recorded use of the phrase came in 1862 during a prolonged fight over a rebel redoubt, Fort Donelson. A confederate general sued Grant for terms. The future president acknowledged receipt of a letter “proposing Armistice, and appointment of Commissioners, to settle terms of Capitulation.” Grant averred: “No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works.”The confederate was stunned by what he called “ungenerous and unchivalrous terms,” but he conceded he had no better option than to accept. Grant would go on to use the same tactic against other rebel generals right up until the war ended at Appomattox. A little of Grant’s gumption would go a long way in today’s war against Iran. Similarly, when FDR was setting out his war strategy against the Axis powers he dusted off Grant’s stratagem.Invoking Grant by name, FDR explained that “the elimination of German, Japanese and Italian war power means the unconditional surrender by Germany, Italy and Japan.” This did not set as a goal any harm to civilians in those countries, FDR added. Yet the Allied victory would by definition require “the destruction of the philosophies in those countries which are based on conquest and the subjugation of other people.” Over the course of the war, America’s enemies sought to escape from the iron logic of unconditional surrender. The Nazis sought a separate peace with Britain and America, ostensibly to foment an alliance against the Soviets. Some Americans quailed at the prospect of finishing the fight against Japan, arguing that concessions could have been offered to placate the regime at Tokyo and facilitate an end to the fighting. That cut no ice with FDR or, later, Truman.After Yalta, FDR told Congress that “our objective in handling Germany is simple — it is to secure the peace of the rest of the world.” FDR asserted that this “objective is impossible if Germany is allowed to retain any ability to wage aggressive warfare.” In words that could stiffen the spines of Mr. Trump and his camarilla, Roosevelt added: “There will be no respite for them. We will not desist for one moment until unconditional surrender.”

The Meaning of Unconditional Surrender

The Meaning of Unconditional Surrender

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