Who cares if we're loved, as long as we're victorious?

Question

The problem in Iraq is that we're so concerned with being seen as the good guys that we've lost sight of the fact that the ultimate objective in any armed conflict is to win.

The Soviets did very little I found laudatory, but they weren't complete imbeciles, either. In 1982, when Hezbollah was kidnapping Western businessmen and diplomats, Western governments were wringing their hands, quivering with indecision over what to do. Hezbollah then made the mistake of kidnapping Soviet diplomats. Soon, wives and children of Hezbollah leaders started disappearing and their remains were returned to Hezbollah in tiny pieces along with the message "We trust you will cease bothering Soviet nationals." Guess what? No more Soviets were kidnapped.

Further, we could learn much from the way our Israeli friends deal with terrorism in Judea and Samaria (the so-called "Occupied Territories"). If a terrorist blows himself up in a suicide bombing, the IDF bulldozes his family home.

t-bone: Christianity has neither a foreign policy nor a military. Sovereign nations such as the US do. I don't particularly care if it's "un-Christian".

Neddie: Please take Poli Sci 101. Stalin was a communist. Communists cannot be fascists. They are 180 degrees apart.

Cantcu: Who told you the war was only against those responsible for 9/11? It is not. It is a war against global terrorism.

Neo: Coward, huh? I served my country: USN, CT2, 1988-1994, last duty station Diego Garcia. What does YOUR DD214 say, Rambo?

Neo: I repeat: what does your DD214 say? That's what I thought, coward.

Answer 1

we can't the libs would cry if we got tough.

Answer 2

Being victorious but having the people hate you means that you will have to fight them again & again.
We learned that from the 1st WW. we were victorious but we destroyed the German country! This was how Hitler was able to gain power. After the 2nd WW we helped those people to rebuild, helped them with food until they could once more produce food enough to feed themselves, they became our friends, same in Japan, they hated us until they were helped by us & we treated them kindly, we won't have to fight either again.
The problem is different in Iraq & Afghanistan, their problem with us is religion. We are trying to be friendly & helpful to them, it is that they do not trust or like Christians & we are a Christian country. We have to make them know that it makes us no difference what religion they belong to; we don't care if they are Muslim as long as they can accept that we are Christian. At one time they could get along, why not now? We must begin to ask the people this question. Make them understand that religion should not matter, only respect for each other as fellow humans is all that should matter.

Answer 3

I don't know how many times similar questions have been asked, and many of us have answered "This war is not winnable. Please define 'winning'." It may have been winnable in the beginning but it is not now. It is a civil war, we don't know which side to shoot at or support, and everyone (but several folks on this board) agrees on that, including the military leaders in Iraq. Diplomacy and political compromises will have to solve the problems in Iraq now.

Answer 4

I'm sure it works to a certain degree. How about we get out of Iraq and bring our troops home where I'm sure they would rather guard our borders and ports.

Answer 5

We must win the support of the Iraqi people if we are to succeed.
It's really that simple.
A military victory against Iraq would be no great chore - it would also not be much of a victory. We are not fighting a country - we are fighting a blood lust, demented ideology.

Answer 6

Victory at all costs huh? You'd be quaking in the cellar if a real war came to your town. Cons are cowards.

Diego Garcia is a pansy post in the middle of the nowhere ocean - and no war within thousands of miles. The only danger is loneliness, and I'm sure you get plenty of that still. You prove nothing regarding your self proclaimed heroism. Cheese Puff.

Answer 7

I don't agree that the only thing important in life is being victorious. Why fight if you have nothing worth fighting for?

I just think the concept that winning is the only important thing does not really apply to human life.

Answer 8

there is no way to win this. its not that there is no end in sight or anything - there is no end period. this will continue as long as there is hate and opression. as for the 1982 incident, does that mean its ok for prisoners of war to have the wives and kids of US officials as well, to them no more of their commrades would be detained. rather than stopping the violence you would escalate it, make it worse and therefore prevoke a worse reaction.

Answer 9

The way to be a total winner is to not attack a country that had nothing to do with 9/1`1 and then have a war longer than WW II!

Duh!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tQeBNjjFbQ&mode=related&search=

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/08/21/bush-on-911/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN5yvoIsnnE

Answer 10

Well you see, the less people love you, the more likely they are to fight you, and less likely they are to help you. Ask the Romans or Brittish how the Empire game worked.

We won every battle in Viet Nam, but the people stopped loving us. Because they didn't love us, the war became unwinnable.

Answer 11

Or why not just drop a nuclear bomb?

We're supposed to be the good guys, remember?