Why Does America Keep Losing Wars?

[Macril]

With Obama out, hopefully we'll start gaining some ground in the war on terror.

Unlikely. Actually winning war on terror would be horror for military-industrial complex.

Not that it is happening anyway. After all those years in Afghanistan with over trillion dollars wasted and blood of American “patriots” plenty shed to the sand Taliban controls more territory than they did when the occupation began.

US war machine and politics is breeding more hate and new terrorists faster than they can be killed off. Which is pretty frustrating to military and political leadership, to the troops in the field and general public back home.

This frustration manifests in more anger, harsher overkills and desensitized actions in general. Which of course creates more opposition to US politics, military and culture and feeds still more resentment in a futile cycle that US taxpayers seem happy enough to finance.

 

[Tallguy88]

The last time we fought a battle on our own turf was in the 1860's.
Against ourselves.

Patting ourselves on the back here is a little like saying we protected ourselves from polar bears when our home is on a tropical island.

-CryptoLutheran

The Japs bombed Hawaii and invaded Alaska, not to mention capturing our overseas territories, such as the Philippines and Wake Island. Those are battles fought on US soil.

 

[TuxAme]

Unlikely. Actually winning war on terror would be horror for military-industrial complex.

Not that it is happening anyway. After all those years in Afghanistan with over trillion dollars wasted and blood of American “patriots” plenty shed to the sand Taliban controls more territory than they did when the occupation began.

US war machine and politics is breeding more hate and new terrorists faster than they can be killed off. Which is pretty frustrating to military and political leadership, to the troops in the field and general public back home.

This frustration manifests in more anger, harsher overkills and desensitized actions in general. Which of course creates more opposition to US politics, military and culture and feeds still more resentment in a futile cycle that US taxpayers seem happy enough to finance.

Perhaps the same could be said of ISIS, the Taliban, etc.- the more ground they gain, and the more horrific actions they commit (let's not forget the pilot they burned alive in a cage, or all those that they drowned, beheaded or threw from rooftops), the more hate they're breeding from Americans, Europeans, and all men of goodwill.

Let's not go off trying to excuse the actions of radicals. You can't begin to compare the actions of the US military, and other Western militaries, to those of ISIS.

 

[DarkSoul999]

The US spends hundreds of billions of dollars on wars and sends thousands of soldiers around the world to fight in them, but it seems unable to translate all that might into anything that could be called victory.Why Does America Keep Losing Wars?

That is true and apart from a few very tiny poor nations, with basic military, the US has not outright won a war since WW2. The first Gulf War was a limited success and Saddam stayed longer in power than George H Bush.

We only started losing wars when liberals started protesting on behalf of the enemy.

We will keep losing until total economic and social collapse.

 

[Macril]

Let's not go off trying to excuse the actions of radicals. You can't begin to compare the actions of the US military, and other Western militaries, to those of ISIS.

Who is excusing anything ? ISIS was and is scum , they are too radical for just about everyone which is one reason they got defeated. Nobody is comparing any real army to ISIS.

Taliban, not so much, one reason they are regaining lost areas is that they are not so radical anymore because they realized it turned the local populace against them.

You don’t defeat ideology by killing the radicals. You defeat it by educating people, giving them better standards of living and access to information.

Also when you occupy anyone’s land you are going to be seen as invader. Good luck getting anything done at that point.

 

[Douger]

The US stopped fighting wars that even needed to be fought much less won.
American wars are now fought for the same reason the wars of the Aztecs were fought when they were at their zenith.
Lawful, civilized, organized killing is the lifeblood of the empire. Gotta keep that sun rising. Any alternatives are considered to be deeply immoral and decadent by the priests of the empire.

 

[DarkSoul999]

Who is excusing anything ? ISIS was and is scum , they are too radical for just about everyone which is one reason they got defeated. Nobody is comparing any real army to ISIS.

Taliban, not so much, one reason they are regaining lost areas is that they are not so radical anymore because they realized it turned the local populace against them.

You don’t defeat ideology by killing the radicals. You defeat it by educating people, giving them better standards of living and access to information.

Also when you occupy anyone’s land you are going to be seen as invader. Good luck getting anything done at that point.

That sounds great. Go build a time machine, go back a thousand years, and revert the ideologies that destroyed the economic foundation of Baghdad. It used to be the center of world trade. You better be an expert on the Quran because you'll have to change the minds of a few Islamic scholars.

If you think you can talk a religious radical out of his beliefs then you are profoundly naive, ignorant of human psychology, and likely very young and inexperienced with life in general...

 

[DarkSoul999]

The US did its worse to try to kill as many Vietnamese as they could. They had become like the enemy they were sent to fight. There were reports of American soldiers being demoralized. Jesus came to teach and heal. He taught parables of peaceful occupations like farming, fishing, sheep tending. He taught us murder is wrong and to not resist violence.

Just because one is American, does not automatically mean the person is a saint. American ambition to rule the world was opposed by people of other cultures and races who did not believe it was fair.

Did America win the Civil War? There are two sides to the story. War does not recognize human rights.

Jesus came to die. The Romans still committed genocide while he was walking the Earth.

 

[DarkSoul999]

Unlikely. Actually winning war on terror would be horror for military-industrial complex.

Not that it is happening anyway. After all those years in Afghanistan with over trillion dollars wasted and blood of American “patriots” plenty shed to the sand Taliban controls more territory than they did when the occupation began.

US war machine and politics is breeding more hate and new terrorists faster than they can be killed off. Which is pretty frustrating to military and political leadership, to the troops in the field and general public back home.

This frustration manifests in more anger, harsher overkills and desensitized actions in general. Which of course creates more opposition to US politics, military and culture and feeds still more resentment in a futile cycle that US taxpayers seem happy enough to finance.

The only way to stop breeding terrorists is to let all non-Muslim economies collapse and become the slaves of an Islamic empire. That is the only thing that will make them tolerate our existence.

You simply do not understand the ideology of Radical Islam. This is why the west has no hope of winning this war. Westerners are too stupid.

 

[Macril]

If you think you can talk a religious radical out of his beliefs then you are profoundly naive, ignorant of human psychology, and likely very young and inexperienced with life in general...

We are not talking so much of inviduals , although plenty of people have renounced their radicalism, but religions and societies at whole.

Christians did plenty of converting with sword at comparable stage on their history, but most of that has been outgrown and now we have milder forms of persuasion as societal as well as religious norms have changed over time.

Same will likely happen with Islam as Muslim societies develop, get better education and standards of living.

At least it will have better change of success then keeping people poor, bitter, uneducated with occupation forces on their land.

 

[Macril]

The only way to stop breeding terrorists is to let all non-Muslim economies collapse and become the slaves of an Islamic empire.

You realize this would just make non-Muslims terrorists as they tried to get their rights back.

The difference between freedom fighter and terrorist is largely in the eye of the beholder. Something from North American history.

Town Destroyer - Wikipedia

 

[DarkSoul999]

You realize this would just make non-Muslims terrorists as they tried to get their rights back.

The difference between freedom fighter and terrorist is largely in the eye of the beholder. Something from North American history.

Town Destroyer - Wikipedia

Some of the very brave would certainly try but this has absolutely nothing to do with what we were discussing....

 

[Macril]

Some of the very brave would certainly try but this has absolutely nothing to do with what we were discussing....

So if they are non Muslims they are “very brave” if they are Muslims they are terrorists?

That sounds logical to you?

As for topic feel free to answer post 51. Extra points if you can dispense with Ad Hominems.

 

[DarkSoul999]

We are not talking so much of inviduals , although plenty of people have renounced their radicalism, but religions and societies at whole.

Christians did plenty of converting with sword at comparable stage on their history, but most of that has been outgrown and now we have milder forms of persuasion as societal as well as religious norms have changed over time.

Same will likely happen with Islam as Muslim societies develop, get better education and standards of living.

At least it will have better change of success then keeping people poor, bitter, uneducated with occupation forces on their land.

Plenty of people are becoming Muslim-in-name-only just like most westerners are Christian-in-name-only.

The radicalism can see a resurgence as soon as some people realize that modern materialistic living is vapid and depressing. They will look around and see the failing marriages and rampant drug and alcohol abuse.

Nobody is building paradise because humans are defective. Every good thing on material Earth was ultimately produced by technology so educating humans is only partially effective. We will need to be ruled over by machines.

 

[DarkSoul999]

So if they are non Muslims they are “very brave” if they are Muslims they are terrorists?

That sounds logical to you?

As for topic feel free to answer post 51. Extra points if you can dispense with Ad Hominems.

No if they are Muslims then they are "good citizens of the empire". If they are non-Muslims then they are either Dhimmis (comparable to a slave or a pariah) or a terrorist/criminal/enemy of the empire (Ummah).

Not sure why you are bringing up Ad Hominem. It doesn't mean what you probaby think it means.

 

[Macril]

Plenty of people are becoming Muslim-in-name-only just like most westerners are Christian-in-name-only.

Exactly, do you think that Muslims in name only are volunteering for suicide attacks or they would rather order pizza and watch some Netflix?

Only religious nuts are so sure that God is on their side that they are ready to kill and die for it.

 

[DarkSoul999]

Exactly, do you think that Muslims in name only are volunteering for suicide attacks or they would rather order pizza and watch some Netflix?

Only religious nuts are so sure that God is on their side that they are ready to kill and die for it.

If the majority of self described Muslims were truly religious we would already be living in a desolate wasteland of a planet.

About 1/10 Muslims is a radical and some smaller portion is actively engaged in hyper-violence. People don't like the idea that their kids can be blown to bits at any moment although these attacks are still pretty rare. If they were to stop being rare then a much larger percentage of that 100 million would be encouraged to actively join the Jihad.

 

[dude99]

Plenty of people are becoming Muslim-in-name-only just like most westerners are Christian-in-name-only.

The radicalism can see a resurgence as soon as some people realize that modern materialistic living is vapid and depressing. They will look around and see the failing marriages and rampant drug and alcohol abuse.

Nobody is building paradise because humans are defective. Every good thing on material Earth was ultimately produced by technology so educating humans is only partially effective. We will need to be ruled over by machines.

That is true. That why there been a growth of political Islam, due to the increased secularism, like Turkey for example. In addition Iran religious leaders biggest fear is not from the outside world or external enemies, but from within, as a very large amount of Iranians of muslim background don't practice it, and many convert to Christianity.

 

[FireDragon76]

Us foreign policy is all about Pax Americana. That's a very costly business. Just ask the Romans.

 

[FireDragon76]

That is true. That why there been a growth of political Islam, due to the increased secularism, like Turkey for example. In addition Iran religious leaders biggest fear is not from the outside world or external enemies, but from within, as a very large amount of Iranians of muslim background don't practice it, and many convert to Christianity.

Not to mention, Islam is not monolithic. Even more than Protestants, Muslims fight among themselves and have even less unity. Most victims of Islamic terrorism are other Muslims. Islamic fundamentalism, a reaction to modernity, is sort of Islam's own worst enemy. A Salafist Muslim will fight Jihad against a fellow Muslim less mired in modernist certantities as much as he will against a godless westerner.