How did we win World War Two?
I think Desert Storm was a good W. Till the media did what the media does.
Those failures are on the politicians, our servicemembers did their jobs.
I would disagree with the President on this issue. But I understand the sentiment.
In Korea, the objective was achieved.
The US had the North Vietnamese beaten and was betrayed by politicians.
The US military beat Iraq like a rented mule.
It defeated the Taliban and occupied the country for two decades.
The military does what the civilians tell it to do, if the military is told to fight in South Vietnam but leave North Vietnam mostly alone, then they do, the same with Korea, if the military hands a country to the civilians and the civvies say thanks but stand down and let the enemy have it back, the military does that, what has not happened to the American military, is meeting an enemy that it can’t defeat on the battlefield which is what it’s job is.
And Trump is right. It’s been fight to contain ever since.
Bombs and tanks to destroy a country's infrastructure, which then requires contractors to come in and rebuild.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat. 🙄
If you are going to put American Military lives at risk and expend national treasure in a foreign land, you damn well better be prepared to win, to win as quickly as possible, to win with a minimum of US casualties and with maximum all out force. Total war.
Do not only defeat the enemy, beat him so bad that he becomes an example for other bad actors to see and fear.
Then leave them with a big ol’ FAFO monument to remember you by.
Fight to win or do not fight at all.
rather,
the US military has never been permitted to WIN a war for America (by USA’s political elite in office)
leave the soldiers sailors airmen to their tasks and they both can and will usually win and win decidedly too
HARD TO ARGUE WITH THIS
I never thought “Winning Hearts and minds” was a good war strategy....
It the idiotic neocon belief we could turn either into Western friendly democracy and nation building that failed.
Because politicians.
All wars fought from WWII until the USSR dissolved were fought under the strategy of containment. George Keenan wrote what the US and Allies needed to do was “contain” USSR expansionism. Keenan said that Communist societies like the USSR would over time collapse on their own due to the economic and societal contradictions of communism. As far as the USSR goes that pretty much happened. The PRC is a different story worthy of a different discussion. It was headed to the rubbish heap of history but its leadership deftly played the West to where they bought time. They used that time to evolve into a different form of totalitarianism. One more fascist then communist in function but one that uses the trappings and rhetoric of communism. Different discussion is needed here for that!
Back to the Keenan strategy of containment it pretty much worked. We fought regional and proxy wars to contain at no point did we try to threaten the USSR directly. Meaning no invasion to force a WWII like victory. The cost of doing that would far far exceed what the “containment war” costed. Its good we didn’t try to do it. No WWII type of victory was possible. I do think we got trapped into the “containment mindset” preserve the “status quo” in all international confrontations. The First Gulf War is a good example of that. Our failure take advantage of certain opportunities set up the conditions for the second war.
Trump’s just engaged in rhetoric here to set the diplomatic table up for other things.
There’s money to be made in not winning wars.
I have long thought exactly that.
A late friend was a Marine pilot in Korea and Vietnam. When he saw the list of places they were not allowed to bomb in North Vietnam, he knew the game was fixed.
Well he’s right about that. Ukraine for example.
I would be 1000% for a federal law that ALL news and information about military actions have AT LEAST a one-month hold put on them, with reporters and editors and executives put in jail for one month for any such violations.
The public has a "right to know", but it does NOT have the "right to know" in real time, when lives are on the line.