Winnable war?

[Zeeck]

I tend to avoid posting in this forum, but I have a sincere question for McCain backers and the military folks around here. Do you believe that there is such a thing as a winnable war these days?

I've heard it from McCain and Palin, this idea of winning the war. Last I checked a war hasn't been won by any country since the atom bomb, not by us, not by Russia, not by anyone. It seems to me we're past the time of winning wars.

I'm not trying to make a political statement here, probably more of a social remark, though in this instance it is in disagreement with the Republican candidate. I know many people in the Republican party share a similar view to mine.

Just wondering what other's thoughts are.

[rexvos]

not unless you kill every living soul in the country. We either have to wipe them out completely which we are not going to do, or we need to find a way to get out leaving some form of government behind that has some sort of chance of short term success. There will always be turmoil in the Middle East.

[GiantFan]

Here is my take.

I think the war on terror will last forever. I don't see an end to it anytime soon, so you really can't say that is winnable. What I think they are referring to when they say winnable is Iraq and winning means a democracy, a limited amount of voilence, a self sufficient government and security force. Can those things actually happen?? That is a totally different discussion but I think that is what they are referring to. But I'm just some dumb guy in CT so what do I know.

[Blitzburgh]

We are trapped. From the political side of things, no one ever wants to admit that the war cannot be won. Just look at "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED"... How long ago was that?

We are in Iraq for the wrong reasons. That was not the place to be in the first place.

The people in those countries don't believe in what we do. We cannot just waltz in there and expect in a few years we are going to "spread democracy" to a region that couldn't be further from being accepting of it.

I have had friends there, and I am thankful everyday that they are no longer there. I wish other families could feel the same way.

The war in Iraq, no matter what we say, will never be won, and thats not a slam on our troops, but a slam on our stubborn weak minded leaders that want to use the war for their own historical resumes, they just don't realize that years from now my kids will be learning about how wrong they were..

[Seahawcla]

I dont believe Iraq is ready for Democracy, better hope we get a dictator that likes us...

[b70x7n]

Here is my take.

I think the war on terror will last forever. I don't see an end to it anytime soon, so you really can't say that is winnable. What I think they are referring to when they say winnable is Iraq and winning means a democracy, a limited amount of voilence, a self sufficient government and security force.

This.

[Zeeck]

The numbers are staggering, something like almost 15% of the population of the country has been displaced due to violence since the U.S. occupation. How are you ever going to sustain peace when people are coming home from work to find that their family has been blown up and their home destroyed? It's not like it's soldiers killing soldiers any more, and those people aren't going to be scared into believing democracy works. They're going to believe in extremism and vengence, leading to more violence, leading to more disdain and extremism.

Seems to me if it's the war on terror or the ware on Iraq, it's not winnable, and I just get tired of hearing talk of winning the war.

[deimos]

war on terror = war on drugs! we will never rid the world of terrorist! you kill one and another is there to take his or hers place. its a never ending cycle.

[vetsgt02]

OK While I see you point I must disagree with you on a few points:

1. "we have not won a war since the atom bomb"

This is simply not true do you remember Desert Storm? We hands down won that and did a great job you can also throw Bosnia and Kosovo in as wars won as well.

2.Now is the war in Iraq currently winnable?

Yes, but not how you are thinking of it. Winning in Iraq means making the country able to stand by itself with a non dictator government. This can happen but it will take along time and to be honest we will probably be over there for the next 50 years just like we are in South Korea right now. It will turn into a military duty station and both the Republicans and Democrats will claim victory over this.

3. War on Terror

This one is tough because when fighting terror it is much like when the greatest generation fought communism. You see it is not a country we are fighting as much as it is an idea. There is no face to this enemy it can be a young man, old man, pregnant women, or even a child. Terror has no face and therefor they have no rules. They will stop at nothing to destroy us and we have to defend ourself without making this a modern day Salem which hunt. But I digress, back to the topic on hand, yes the war on terror is winnable but not in a tradition sense. We can win this war just like when we defeated communism we must stick together as a nation and never falter. We must never give up on hope and every day that we keep another 9-11 from happing on our borders we have won that day and frustrated our enemy's. Killing Osama will not win the war on terror another will just take his place. These terrorist are not stupid or uneducated. They believe in their cause as much as we believe in stopping it. The only way we lose this war is buy losing our nation and the only way we win it is by outliving it and showing the world that no matter how many times you knock us down we are they USA and we will not be defeated.

[ernieren]

A war over there will never be won!!! as for this

This is simply not true do you remember Desert Storm? We hands down won that and did a great job you can also throw Bosnia and Kosovo in as wars won as well.
Desert Storm we had this won true But we did NOT FINISH It . If we did finish then we would not be there now i would say. War is not about winning or losing any more . It should be about helping out a country Like we did with Kuwait (then left) There is no reason we should be in Iraq Not one . We got lead to believe it was over weapons that never showed up. the biological crap they say they had was no good and they would never have been able to do anything with it. It looked like it was for oil but we have not taken any. Its called our govt. went over there to finish the job from the 90's only to screw it up. We should have stayed in Afganastan to get rid of Bin Laden. sorry for the crappy writing just to much to say and i think faster than i type. :doh:

[Bounty13]

A war over there will never be won!!! as for this

This is simply not true do you remember Desert Storm? We hands down won that and did a great job you can also throw Bosnia and Kosovo in as wars won as well.
Desert Storm we had this won true But we did NOT FINISH It . If we did finish then we would not be there now i would say. War is not about winning or losing any more . It should be about helping out a country Like we did with Kuwait (then left) There is no reason we should be in Iraq Not one . We got lead to believe it was over weapons that never showed up. the biological crap they say they had was no good and they would never have been able to do anything with it. It looked like it was for oil but we have not taken any. Its called our govt. went over there to finish the job from the 90's only to screw it up. We should have stayed in Afganastan to get rid of Bin Laden. sorry for the crappy writing just to much to say and i think faster than i type. :doh:



Oh believe me... we were marching straight to Baghdad for Saddams head. But the international community and the UN said stop because we were absolutely slaughtering their military, plus Kuwait was safe (which was the ultimate goal of the Gulf War).

I wish the conversation about these wars is about the future. How many times can people say it was wrong to go into Iraq? OK it was wrong, get over it, we are there now. What can we do from this moment on, forget about what happened 5 years ago. It should be a proactive discussion and not about dwelling on the past, we can't do anything about the past.

[scrappy]

i don't think there is such a thing as a winnable war now.

since we are in iraq right now, and shouldn't be there in the first place, i don't see an easy exit. i have heard from some of the guys in uniform that when this thing is "done" they aren't coming home, they are just moving next door to afgahnistan, so yeah, don't see a winnable war at all

[timonahan]

OK While I see you point I must disagree with you on a few points:

1. "we have not won a war since the atom bomb"

This is simply not true do you remember Desert Storm? We hands down won that and did a great job you can also throw Bosnia and Kosovo in as wars won as well.

2.Now is the war in Iraq currently winnable?

Yes, but not how you are thinking of it. Winning in Iraq means making the country able to stand by itself with a non dictator government. This can happen but it will take along time and to be honest we will probably be over there for the next 50 years just like we are in South Korea right now. It will turn into a military duty station and both the Republicans and Democrats will claim victory over this.

3. War on Terror

This one is tough because when fighting terror it is much like when the greatest generation fought communism. You see it is not a country we are fighting as much as it is an idea. There is no face to this enemy it can be a young man, old man, pregnant women, or even a child. Terror has no face and therefor they have no rules. They will stop at nothing to destroy us and we have to defend ourself without making this a modern day Salem which hunt. But I digress, back to the topic on hand, yes the war on terror is winnable but not in a tradition sense. We can win this war just like when we defeated communism we must stick together as a nation and never falter. We must never give up on hope and every day that we keep another 9-11 from happing on our borders we have won that day and frustrated our enemy's. Killing Osama will not win the war on terror another will just take his place. These terrorist are not stupid or uneducated. They believe in their cause as much as we believe in stopping it. The only way we lose this war is buy losing our nation and the only way we win it is by outliving it and showing the world that no matter how many times you knock us down we are they USA and we will not be defeated.



who typed this for you?:scratch:

[vetsgt02]

who typed this for you?:scratch:


Actually I did it all by myself :salut: We finally found a topic I am passionate about ;)