11-22-2020, 05:51 PM
What makes a war ‘winnable’. I might differ that we ‘won’ in Iraq. I sort of agree that bringing in outsiders hated by the local population is not the way to go. However, if you look at it from the leader / elite / racket perspective, did we win any war for oil? Is the huge embassy built by Bush 43 abandoned? The military bases he built? Did the Middle East become destabilized? Did the US become war adverse, reluctant to put boots on the ground, one of the traditional things that happens as a result of a crisis?
If Iraq was a victory, it was a partial one.
The local population who finds proxy support of a major power in an insurgent proxy battle has an advantage. They can keep the fight going, and generally has enough patience that the other side gives up.
Major powers seldom engage in crisis wars. When they do, they can defeat regular armies often enough, but if their intent is not to support the local population the conflict soon goes insurgent. There, the major powers don’t do so well.
If Iraq was a victory, it was a partial one.
The local population who finds proxy support of a major power in an insurgent proxy battle has an advantage. They can keep the fight going, and generally has enough patience that the other side gives up.
Major powers seldom engage in crisis wars. When they do, they can defeat regular armies often enough, but if their intent is not to support the local population the conflict soon goes insurgent. There, the major powers don’t do so well.
That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
