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Why America Stopped Winning Wars

Summarizing Dan Zamansky in Tablet · Published Friday, November 8, 2024
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JL;DR SUMMARY The piece by Dan Zamansky delves into why the United States ceased achieving decisive victories in wars post-World War II. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

World War Ii  Military Strategy  American History  Afghanistan  Victory  Us Military  Conflicts  Civilian Protection  Wars  Vietnam 

Places mentioned

United States
"To find a way out of its current security crisis, the United States must recognize some hard truths."
Afghanistan
"The last American war to date ended, in substance, a decade ago, when the U.S. formally concluded its combat operations in Afghanistan."
London, United Kingdom
"For the United States to emerge as a country in the first place, of course, it needed to gain its independence from the British Empire, which was not inclined to let the Colonies go."
Paris, Île-de-France, France
"On July 14, 1789, barely more than a year after the ratification of the Constitution, the people of Paris stormed the Bastille."
Germany
"The aggressive ambitions of kaisers Germany were already on display at the beginning of the First Moroccan Crisis in March 1905."
Mexico
"the extraordinary Zimmermann Telegram in which Germanys foreign minister offered Mexico parts of American territory"
Japan
"But it wasnt until another aggressor state, Japan, attacked America at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, that the U.S. joined the war against the Axis powers in the Pacific."
Russian Federation
"On the Eastern front of the European war, almost 18 million metric tons of Allied lend-lease aid to the Soviet Union, most of it American, were a pillar of the Soviet war effort."
Vietnam
"make war interminable. This ethos, which leads to years of inconclusive military engagements that in the end do little to reduce civilian death totals, was a central cause of Americas expensive and demoralizing military failures in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan."
Iraq
"make war interminable. This ethos, which leads to years of inconclusive military engagements that in the end do little to reduce civilian death totals, was a central cause of Americas expensive and demoralizing military failures in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan."
Lebanon
"This is especially the case in sectarian societies such as Lebanon, where the Shia, who are represented in the state by Hezbollah, benefit from the groups social foundations."
Palestinian Territories
"If a population lives in a territory controlled by a hostile force, especially a densely populated territory like parts of Iraq and much of Gaza, it will suffer serious and continuous losses during a war."
Israel
"Israel, a country of just 10 million with no friendly population on any of its borders, cannot afford to follow Americas example."
Iran
"Iran, a very dangerous regime, earns much less money exporting oil than Iraq, partly because it is much simpler to extract and export Iraqi oil."
Kuwait
"America should have then maintained forces in safe areas in close proximity, like Iraqi Kurdistan and Kuwait, to make sure that the old regime could not return to power."

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Retrieved 2025-07-30 05:38:06 UTC
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