Our Ridiculous Way of Fighting Wars
American Greatness,
by
Mark Rothermel
Original Article
Posted By: usmc0302,
8/15/2021 11:20:55 AM
As we look at the disgraceful coda of the Global War on Terror and the tens of thousands of our countrymen who have been maimed or killed with scant results, it is clear to all but few (sadly, those few seem to occupy a lot of Defense Department jobs and think tank posts), there must be a better way to fight our wars. If we look to history, and even demands from the anti-war Left, we might find a better way forward.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
chance_232 8/15/2021 11:25:35 AM (No. 879761)
I have an idea. Once committed to military action, we fight it to win it.
However, that won't happen so long as the opposition party sees a benefit to destroying the war effort for their own political gain.
17 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
weirdone 8/15/2021 11:36:47 AM (No. 879770)
I agree # 1. And lets stop sending out troops into combat with both hands tied behind their backs.
15 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Quigley 8/15/2021 11:46:52 AM (No. 879781)
This article seems overly platitudinous. I don’t remember the left ever demanding that military action be subject to timelines. All I remember is the left trying to make political points out of everything military.
I tend to think the Giuliani approach to crime fighting seems to be the proper approach- stop crime whenever it appears, don’t permit certain levels of crime because stopping it seems unfair.
But the implementation of that is not possible when the dims seek to transmogrify criminals into agitation props.
5 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
bad-hair 8/15/2021 11:56:16 AM (No. 879797)
Our ridiculous way of fighting wars is fighting OTHER PEOPE"S WARS. Screw Afghanistan. As soon as there's no American blood to be spilled or dollars to be spent the ''''''s run for the hills.
6 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
BarryNo 8/15/2021 12:04:50 PM (No. 879809)
This is how you fight a war:
1st: Identify the Enemy
2nd: Identify Enemy Alliances. Anyone who is your enemy's ally is you enemy.
3rd: Attack the Enemy relentlessly, using all methods to inhibit and destroy their means to retaliate.
4th: Accept no limitations on the method of Warfare. Civilian casualties are regrettable, but they are part of the enemy's ability to wage war. If enemies place civilians in areas where they wage war from, or involve them in production of war materials they are as valid a target as a soldier.
5th: Isolate and Eliminate all parties who directed the enemies hostilities.
6th: Once an enemy is defeated, carefully consider what part cultural and religious norm contributed to the war. If it is beyond incidental - eliminate. A culture or religion that attacks you is as much an enemy as an enemy army.
War, must be total, absolute and unforgiving, if it is ever waged at all. Potential enemies will hesitate if they know the result will risk annihilation.
19 people like this.
We don't fight wars. We 'nation build'. The last actual war we fought was World War II, which coincidentally is the last war we won. Once we committed to Korea we should have turned the North into a self-lighting parking lot. The best we could get is a tie, with a 70 year occupation of the 38th parallel.
Since then, it has been one quagmire after another, under both Republican and Democrap. We fight a kinder, gentler hearts and minds action that is a loser every time its tried.
The military is useful for one purpose. Killing the enemy, and breaking things. They are not nation builders, and when you give them that role, they fail. Lots come home missing limbs, or dead.
If you want to win (we don't, by the way...endless conflict is very good for business) you land on your opponent with everything you have, and decimate them. When you are finished killing them, you leave. You don't hang around for 20 years fighting a limited action.
7 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
snapper451 8/15/2021 12:22:20 PM (No. 879824)
America is at it's weakest point in my 70 years on this earth. The Biden "administration" is in shambles, as clueless as Mr. Applesauce Brains who occupies the oval office at times. This also falls on the neo-cons and the Bush/Cheney alliance that did everything to assist the fraudulent election / installation of Biden by opposing everything Trump. May they all burn in hell.
8 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Italiano 8/15/2021 12:26:47 PM (No. 879829)
America's foreign enemies would be well-advised to just stand down, sit back and let our domestic enemies do their job for them. It's working out great so far.
4 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
WV.Hillbilly 8/15/2021 12:29:32 PM (No. 879830)
As General Curtis LeMay once said, "I'll tell you what war is about. You've got to kill people. And when you've killed enough they stop fighting."
9 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Ida Lou Pino 8/15/2021 12:37:49 PM (No. 879839)
I disagree. Our military strategists have done a fabulous job.
You haven't seen any attacks by Raging White Men, have you? No you haven't - - because the military strategy is working!
5 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
seamusm 8/15/2021 12:47:41 PM (No. 879847)
To steal a thought - wars don't end when YOU decide they're over. They end when your enemy decides to stop.
9 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
davew 8/15/2021 12:50:37 PM (No. 879849)
If you read Sun Tsu's "The Art of War" its apparent that we make every mistake in his book. We attack the enemy's strengths and not their weaknesses. We talk strong but then act weak. We don't keep up a rout until we have destroyed the enemy forces. Instead we issue a cease fire so they can regain their strength and lengthen the conflict until we lose by attrition.
There are real warriors in the military who know the wisdom of Sun Tsu but are restrained by political factors that affect their careers. Read Eddie Gallagher's book, "The Man in the Arena" to see what the modern military does to real warriors.
The first mistake is to engage in a conflict without a clear objective and commitment to victory. Large scale kinetic warfare is less a threat in the modern world than cyber and propaganda warfare through mass media. If you capture the minds and hearts of people first they will follow you in battle.
We never were able to convince the South Vietnamese or Afghani leaders and people to give up their corrupt tribal disputes and fight for their freedom. All the Americans in country in the world can not ensure victory unless you deal with that reality.
5 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
stablemoney 8/15/2021 1:06:56 PM (No. 879864)
You first have to allow our military to kill the enemy. You cannot win a war from the air. You have to send in the troops when the bombing is over. If you are only going to in for to defeat, then leave, then the object should be to rob and pillage, as in old times, as there is no other reason to bother with it.
2 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
chumley 8/15/2021 1:51:35 PM (No. 879907)
We are very nearly at the point where no living American has ever won a war. When we would play war games in the 80's we were having ROEs foisted on us and were being taught tactics by the people who lost Vietnam. Its all they knew so thats what they taught. It stunk then and we knew it, and now we can add two generations of losses to that.
1 person likes this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Birddog 8/15/2021 2:34:27 PM (No. 879952)
" we sit seven decades away from taking part in any major tangible military success."???
Kuwait was liberated in a "historic matter of days", 100hrs.
Saddam Hussain was toppled and all of Iraq taken in a "historic matter of Days"...3 weeks
The "JV Team" ISIS was able to capture yuuuge amounts of three nations 30% of Syria, 40% of Iraq ....until Trump destroyed them in a "Historic matter of days", https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/isis-reduced-only-500-fighters-13978173
THOSE are successes...Military Successes, "Wars Won". It is when Dems and their Media start venting their Poutrage about deaths(often enemy deaths) that the "Peace achieved is then Lost". In January the taliban held NO major city, town, or province, America had not had a death in over a year, the prior 4 years had had less than ten US combat deaths.
1 person likes this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
Birddog 8/15/2021 2:46:10 PM (No. 879963)
MORE American were dying "combat deaths" every day in Chicago, every weekend in DC, NYC, Minneapolis....than in Afghanistan a year. Trump talked to the Taliban, said "NO MORE Attacks...If you do I will rain hell on you like you have never before seen"...they tested him, there was an attack...He DID it. US forces were only 2500troops, many admin. Not another attack until Biden was elected, then they climbed out of their box, because they KNEW he would do nothing, in fact he pulled out all air forces that could have responded. NOW Biden has had to send in TWICE as many combat troops, just to (hopefully) cover our exit...while the Taliban have captured enough tech/weaponry to shoot down the exiting planes if they choose, certainly have the ability to close the runways, and eventually take hostage all who are then trapped.
0 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 8/15/2021 3:38:39 PM (No. 880027)
As is usually the case, you have to follow the money.
0 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
MickTurn 8/15/2021 3:41:53 PM (No. 880034)
Rules of REAL War:
1. Kill the Enemy, all of them.
2. See rule #1.
1 person likes this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
mathman 8/15/2021 4:19:14 PM (No. 880072)
Listen to Gen. Patton: The noblest thing is to make the other b****d die for his country.
We won W W II because of men like Patton.
Armies exist to kill people and break things.
Gen Vanilli Milli has an army to fight for Critical Race Theory.
We lost Afghanistan because of Gen Milli.
And Pres Biden. And Sec Austin. And Sec Blinken.
But the 2020 election was completely fair and honest. And 81 million Americans voted to put the United States in the toilet.
0 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
doctorfixit 8/15/2021 7:55:19 PM (No. 880295)
Bring all US troops home, fire everyone in the Pentagon. Put the troops on the border, establish a Death Zone 50 miles wide in Mexico at the border.
0 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
mifla 8/16/2021 5:49:31 AM (No. 880714)
Leave the media, the lawyers, and the rule book at home.
0 people like this.
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Comments:
I disagree with the author that the military should use timelines as the enemy will use that to our disadvantage. However the author makes some other valid points.