[2ndDivisionVet]

If tanks, drones and a “powerful” military are so key, why didn't we win in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korea and Somalia?

[mountainlion]

why didn’t we win in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korea and Somalia?

Answer: the UN,

[ealgeone]

In each of these campaigns we engaged in limited warfare. It was not total war as in the sense of our strategy in World War II.

World War II - Win
Desert Storm I - Win (if we confine the objective to kicking Iraq out of Kuwait)
Iraq - Too early to tell
Afghanistan - Currently engaged
Vietnam - Loss
Korea - Tie
Somalia - Loss

Desert Storm I is the anamoly in this group in that we didn’t engage in Total War, but we did employ a stronger strategy in kicking Iraq out of Kuwait.

As you can see, anything less than total war brings about sorry results.

[trebb]

If tanks, drones and a “powerful” military are so key, why didn't we win in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korea and Somalia?

Exactly - if those places proved too hard to crack, what do folks think would happen if it really became a war between the People and the government?