I have had this question on my mind for a long time now.
Obviously, the quick answer is YES. Our military is incredible. Our people can be anywhere, do anything, beat anyone there is.
However, my question comes from a different angle. The last war we really "WON" was WWII. In this war, the majority of Americans were behind the war effort, were willing to sacrifice what ever it takes to win. This included loss of tens of thousands of soldier's lives along with weathering some hard times back home with rationing and the expense of war. During this war, the most people were able to learn about the war was from either reading the paper, listening to the radio or watching a little news clip at the beginning of a movie.
Every war since then, the media has become more and more involved. Vietnam was really the first war that was on TV with reports on the battle field streaming news clips back to the states. The American public answered by not having the stomach to win the war.
Then, fast forward to the Iraq war and the public REALLY didn't have the stomach even though the body count is MUCH less than any war of it's size in history.
The fact is, in my eyes, the American public can't stomach what it takes to win a war when they see it every day on TV 24 hours a day.
The media isn't going to go away. It is only going to get worse. And, therefore, I don't believe that any war is winnable when factoring in the American sentiment and support to the end.
Thoughts????
Obviously, the quick answer is YES. Our military is incredible. Our people can be anywhere, do anything, beat anyone there is.
However, my question comes from a different angle. The last war we really "WON" was WWII. In this war, the majority of Americans were behind the war effort, were willing to sacrifice what ever it takes to win. This included loss of tens of thousands of soldier's lives along with weathering some hard times back home with rationing and the expense of war. During this war, the most people were able to learn about the war was from either reading the paper, listening to the radio or watching a little news clip at the beginning of a movie.
Every war since then, the media has become more and more involved. Vietnam was really the first war that was on TV with reports on the battle field streaming news clips back to the states. The American public answered by not having the stomach to win the war.
Then, fast forward to the Iraq war and the public REALLY didn't have the stomach even though the body count is MUCH less than any war of it's size in history.
The fact is, in my eyes, the American public can't stomach what it takes to win a war when they see it every day on TV 24 hours a day.
The media isn't going to go away. It is only going to get worse. And, therefore, I don't believe that any war is winnable when factoring in the American sentiment and support to the end.
Thoughts????
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