Would Americans rather die than admit defeat? ( in any situation )?

Question

In my opinion it looks like the biggest thing hurting the USA is its pride, I could be wrong but what do you think?

Answer 1

Wouldn't any nation? Why would you want to live defeated, when you can fight for what you believe? And this concept extends beyond war, it concerns anything.

Answer 2

There does seem to be a sizeable part of our population who are jingoistic and hubristic to the extreme. They believe the U.S. can do no wrong, and that our leaders are always morally upright, virtuous and forthright with their own citizens and with other countries of the world. It has led to an almost mystical belief that when American politicians or business leaders say something, all other countries must fall in line with the "Word from on High." To those sorts of people winning means everything, because in their eyes, to lose at anything as a nation diminishes the stature of the country before the court of world opinion, and because they are invested so closely in their country's persona, it also diminishes them. To those people I say: Get a grip on reality! Our world will not come to an end if the U.S. doesn't win every battle or skirmish. We lost in Vietnam and the rest of Asia did not become dutiful little Maoists spouting quotations from Mao's Little Red Book, as predicted by the so-called "Domino Effect" which was used as a pretext for staying in Vietnam. Nor did America's global reputation suffer irreparable harm.

Also, jingoes should learn to have a critical and skeptical eye when evaluating the motives behind the actions of our political leaders on the world stage. Too often they have deliberately dissembled, misrepresented, misconstrued, exaggerated, misstated and otherwise out and out lied about the reasons behind their actions and the consequences of not taking the course of action they suggest or the benefits which will accrue if they do. And they are not without blood on their hands. Did you know that over roughly the last century, our government has been behind no fewer than 14 regime changes thoughout the world. Some have been to remove regimes which we had previously clandestinely installed, and which did not work out to our liking. Saddam Hussein is an example of this. Others have been democratically elected regimes whose ideologies we didn't like or whose policies conflicted with U.S. corporate ambitions. That's right! Frequently those regime changes were brought about due to economic reasons which benefitted U.S. businesses. But that should come as no real surprise.

To sum up, I'd say yes! Not only is pride the biggest thing hurting the U.S. on the world stage, but also the "Alice in Wonderland" view on our citizens' part that our leaders are Johnny-on-the-spot dogooders who are out to save the world from and despite themselves. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Here's a link you might find of interest:

http://www.pww.org/index.php/article/articleview/9534/1/331

Answer 3

If you are speaking of Iraq, Americans persist because of lessons learned from the past.

The last President failed to maintain a presence in Afghanistan to rebuild after the Soviets were forced out. Throughout the 1990s, Afghanistan was taken over by Islamists and turned into a terrorist training center.

In contrast, when we defeated Japan and Germany in war, we maintained a presence for ten years, doing whatever it took to push those countries into the international community of cooperative nations. The result was peace in those nations and greatly improved human rights.

Which path would a wise leader take regarding Iraq?

Geneva conventions require that we maintain a force until Iraq can handle its own security matters. I hope you respect the Geneva Conventions.

Answer 4

No! For example: Korea & Vietnam. We didn't care what anyone thought, we just left them to fend for themselves. Altough we do still have troops in Korea. But we did not liberate all of the country; only the southern part. We don't call it defeat, we call it making a sound decision as to when it is not worth any more of our service people dying, costs & interest. We loose interest in continuing beyond the point of the interest of the American people & what we truly have to gain by continuing.

Answer 5

Yes. Pride goes before the fall.

Answer 6

It looks like "admiting defeat" plays very well among the liberals and the drive by media...

Answer 7

the most commited will win. whats hurting us is lack of support from the international community, and the radical libs tearing our country apart from the inside.

Answer 8

Sure seems that way, doesn't it?

My late mother used to call it "cutting off your nose to spite your face."