11-23-2020, 11:19 AM
** 23-Nov-2020 World View: Winning a war
I guess it depends on what you mean by winning a war.
Using your criteria, someone could claim that we didn't win WW II.
Maybe we saved France and Belgium from the Nazis, but we lost Poland
and Hungary to the Soviets, which is just as bad. Europe was
completely destabilized by massive flows of refugees. America built
military bases in Germany, which are still there. There was a
neo-Nazi insurgency, which still exists at a minor level. So if WW II
was a victory, it was a partial one.
In the case of Iraq, I would evaluate it this way. We had three
objectives -- first to eject Iraq from Kuwait, then to get rid of
Saddam Hussein, and finally to defeat the AQI insurgency. We
succeeded at all three objectives.
In Afghanistan, we had two objectives -- first to destroy the Taliban
government, and then to control the Taliban insurgency. We succeeded
at the first, and failed at the second.
(11-22-2020, 05:51 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: > 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.
I guess it depends on what you mean by winning a war.
Using your criteria, someone could claim that we didn't win WW II.
Maybe we saved France and Belgium from the Nazis, but we lost Poland
and Hungary to the Soviets, which is just as bad. Europe was
completely destabilized by massive flows of refugees. America built
military bases in Germany, which are still there. There was a
neo-Nazi insurgency, which still exists at a minor level. So if WW II
was a victory, it was a partial one.
In the case of Iraq, I would evaluate it this way. We had three
objectives -- first to eject Iraq from Kuwait, then to get rid of
Saddam Hussein, and finally to defeat the AQI insurgency. We
succeeded at all three objectives.
In Afghanistan, we had two objectives -- first to destroy the Taliban
government, and then to control the Taliban insurgency. We succeeded
at the first, and failed at the second.
