Can the american military win a war?
 

I say no. Iraq and Afghanistan both should have been crushed over a long weekend but the news networks and opinion polls keep their hands tied. After the Iraq war started, after each soldier died, cnn would interview every family member, show tributes to the soldier and so on. Imagine if they had done that during vietnam?

War is ugly, you cant use a rule book to win a war.

Have you ever been in the military??

ofcourse they can

we're trying to crush them?

How do you crush an enemy that has no central power, no large concentrations of fire power, and will keep fighting until they are all dead?

in the end yes, but it takes long to win a war, no matter who leads it...

IF there was a war worth fighting, that ALL of the US agreed was worth fighting, we would kick some ass.

Yes but probably Bush don't want that

The problem is this is not a traditional war that the US or any other military force for that matter is designed for.

This is an urban war. The US military's structure was built to attack and defend against large military forces.

We did that successfully in the first few weeks. All Saddam's heavy duty military forces were destroyed. However his Republican Guards then went into civilian mode and just blended into the general population. These are the folks causing the problems and insurgent attacks now.

How do you successfully engage an enemey blended in with and operating from a civilian formation. Its impossible without also taking out civilians and civilian infrastructures like the Mosques.

This creates a political dilema, because now it looks like the US is a bully army bombing people's houses, businesses and places of worship instead of military fortifications.

Saddam was indeed brilliant in this respect. He knew the worst thing that could happen to the US was to have to engage Iraq into a long term protracted battle that ultimately really can't be won because the enemy stays invisible. There are no bases, no armament depots, no planes, no boats. Nothing the US could easily attack against the insurgents is visible as a traditional military target.

The best strategy right now is for the US to hand over full control to the next Iraqi government and provide secondary military power to help support that government. Anything else will ultimately prove to be a futile effort.

Basically we're fucked right now. We're trying to fight a war against the invisible man. And that is impossible to do.

Well, Saddam was trained by the best lol

The U.S. army is not tuff at all. You should feel sorry for them.

You should get them presents.

May I suggest a chocalate revolver. But since they are so busy, you will need to run up real fast and hand it to one of them while they are patrolling.

Also, to get their attention you be shouting something religious like, "praise allah" or whomever.

This is no longer war. It is guerrilla style zealots and warlords fighting for the loyalty of the local population. You can't technically kill civilians simply for not supporting your cause, unless they pick up a gun, that is.

Interesting that the Koran tells believers the only acceptable time when fighting or violence is acceptable is if/when your home or family is threatened. And if it is, you have Allah's permission to fight to the death.

And that is what Bush has walked into.