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Since 9/11, The U.S. Has Been Involved In More Than 5 Wars … And They’ve All Been Disasters
Below, we demonstrate that the U.S. keeps “losing” war after war.
There are 3 potential reasons this might be happening:
- Is this chaos an intentional way to implement regime change and grab resources?
- Or is this a sign of the decline of the American empire … and we just can’t win a war anymore?
- Or do those in charge just not really give a damn about winning … and are they just focusing on one short-term goal after another?
We’ll let you decide why you think this keeps happening. But if you don’t believe that the U.S. has been losing its recent wars, read on …
U.S. Keeps Messing Up
We noted last year:
Since 2001, the U.S. has undertaken regime change in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.
All 3 countries are now in chaos … and extremists are more in control than ever.
Iraq
In Iraq, hardcore Islamic jihadis known as ISIS have taken over much of the country – shown in red as the new “Islamic State” or self-described caliphate – using captured American weapons:
USA Today notes: “Iraq is already splitting into three states“.
Christians are being rounded up and killed, and Christian leaders in Iraq say the end of Christianity in Iraq is “very near”. But as we documented in 2012, Saddam Hussein – for all his faults – was a secular leader who tolerated Christians.
Libya
Libya has also descended into absolute chaos. We reported in 2012:
Al Qaeda is now largely in control of Libya. Indeed, Al Qaeda flags were flown over the Benghazi courthouse once Gaddafi was toppled.
(This is – again – in contrast to toleration of Christians under Gadaffi.)
The Guardian noted in March:
According to Amnesty International, the “mounting curbs on freedom of expression are threatening the rights Libyans sought to gain“. A repressive Gaddafi-era law has been amended to criminalise any insults to officials or the general national congress (the interim parliament). One journalist, Amara al-Khattabi, was put on trial for alleging corruption among judges. Satellite television stations deemed critical of the authorities have been banned, one station has been attacked with rocket-propelled grenades, and journalists have been assassinated.
***
Ever since the fall of [Gadaffi’s] dictatorship, there have been stories of black Libyans being treated en masse as Gaddafi loyalists and attacked. In a savage act of collective punishment, 35,000 people were driven out of Tawergha in retaliation for the brutal siege of the anti-Gaddafi stronghold of Misrata. The town was trashed and its inhabitants have been left in what human rights organisations are calling “deplorable conditions” in a Tripoli refugee camp. Such forced removals continue elsewhere. Thousands have been arbitrarily detained without any pretence of due process; and judges, prosecutors, lawyers and witnesses have been attacked or even killed. Libya’s first post-Gaddafi prosecutor general, Abdulaziz Al-Hassadi, was assassinated in the town of Derna last month.
***
When residents of Benghazi – the heartland of the revolution – protested against militia rule in June last year, 32 people were killed in what became known as “Black Saturday”. In another protest in Tripoli last November, 46 died and 500 were injured.
Under militia rule, Libya is beginning to disintegrate. Last summer forces under the command of the warlord Ibrahim Jadran took control of eastern oil terminals …. These forces which hijacked a oil tanker this month, prompting threats from Libya’s prime minister that it would be bombed until US forces captured it this weekend. Clashes have broken out in Jadran’s home town of Ajdabiya. In painful echoes of Iraq’s nightmare, a car bomb exploded at a Benghazi military base last week and killed at least eight soldiers, and Libya’s main airport was shut on Friday after a bomb exploded on its runway.
One of the great perversities of the so-called war on terror is that fundamentalist Islamist forces have flourished as a direct consequence of it. Libya is no exception, even though such movements often have little popular support. The Muslim Brotherhood and other elements are better organised than many of their rivals, helping to remove the prime minister, push through legislation, and establish alliances with opportunistic militias.
Ominously, Libya’s chaos is spilling across the region. The country is awash with up to 15 million rifles and other weapons, and a report by the UN panel of experts this month found that “Libya has become a primary source of illicit weapons“. These arms are fuelling chaos in 14 countries, including Somalia, the Central African Republic, Nigeria and Niger.
***
There is a real prospect of the country collapsing into civil war or even breaking up. Unless there are negotiated settlements to its multiple problems, Libya will surely continue its descent into mayhem, and the region could be dragged into the mire with it.
No wonder western governments and journalists who hailed the success of this intervention are so silent. But here are the consequences of their war, and they must take responsibility for them.
28-year CIA veteran Paul Pillar – who rose to be one of the agency’s top analysts – wrote in May:
Just when one might have thought the mess in Libya could not have gotten worse, it has.
***
Saudi Arabia and several other Arab states have evacuated their diplomats from Libya, the United States is preparing for possible evacuation of U.S. personnel, and the country appears on the brink of a larger civil war.
***
Those in Libya closest to being called secular liberals seem to be associated with military officers of the old regime.
***
The intervention already has negatively affected U.S. interests, particularly in providing a disincentive to other regimes to do what Gaddafi did in negotiating an end to involvement in terrorism and an end to production of unconventional weapons.
And things have only gotten worse since then … and Benghazi has fallen to the jihadis.
(It should be remembered that the U.S. helped sew the seeds of chaos in several ways. Not only did we engage in direct military intervention against Gadafi, but also – as confirmed by a group of CIA officers – armed Al Qaeda so that they would help topple Gaddafi.)
Afghanistan
Opium production is at an all-time high under the American occupation of Afghanistan.
And the New York Times reports this week that the Taliban are currently making huge gains in Afghanistan … in some cases expanding even beyond their traditional areas of influence prior to 2001:
The Taliban have found success beyond their traditional strongholds in the rural south and are now dominating territory near crucial highways and cities that surround Kabul, the capital, in strategic provinces like Kapisa and Nangarhar.
U.S. troops are just now leaving, and so the worst may be still to come. In addition – as we discuss below – the U.S. previously imposed regime change on Afghanistan … and the results were bad.
History Repeats
The U.S. carried out regime change in Iran in 1953 … which led to radicalization in the country. Specifically, the CIA admits that the U.S. overthrew the moderate, suit-and-tie-wearing, Democratically-elected prime minister of Iran in 1953. (He was overthrown because he had nationalized Iran’s oil, which had previously been controlled by BP and other Western oil companies). As part of that action, the CIA admits that it hired Iranians to pose as Communists and stage bombings in Iran in order to turn the country against its prime minister.
If the U.S. hadn’t overthrown the moderate Iranian government, the fundamentalist Mullahs would have never taken over. Iran has been known for thousands of years for tolerating Christians and other religious minorities.
Hawks in the U.S. government been pushing for another round of regime change in Iran for decades.
Hillary Clinton and then-president Jimmy Carter’s National Security Adviser have both admitted on the record that the U.S. previously carried out regime change in Afghanistan in the 1970s by backing Bin Laden and the Mujahadin … the precursor to Al Qaeda.
And look how that turned out.
Syria
The U.S. has heavily backed the Islamic rebels in Syria in an attempt to implement regime change in that country. The result?
As shown by the map above, they’ve taken a third of the country as part of their “caliphate”
And the jihadis are now busily crucifying, beheading and slitting the throats of Christians. (Yup, Syria was previously known for tolerating Christians.)
***
We can probably add Ukraine to the list of regime changed countries falling into chaos and murderous extremism, given that:
- The U.S. State Department spent more than $5 billion dollars in pushing Ukraine away from Russia
- The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine (Geoffrey Pyatt) and assistant Secretary of State (Victoria Nuland) were recorded plotting the downfall of the former Ukraine government in a leaked recording
- Top-level U.S. officials literally handed out cookies to the protesters who overthrew the Ukrainian government
- The U.S. has been backing – militarily as well as monetarily – the Neo-Nazis who have plunged the country into chaos
Since then, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Ukraine have descended into still more hellish levels of chaos.
The U.S.-backed government in Ukraine is starting to lose the civil war.
Many of the U.S.-backed rebels in Syria have joined ISIS. And most of the weapons given to the “moderate” rebels have ended up in ISIS and Al Qaeda’s hands.
Mother Jones adds Yemen to the list:
So here’s my scorecard for American military interventions since 2000:
- Afghanistan: A disaster. It’s arguable that Afghanistan is no worse off than it was in 2001, but after losing thousands of American lives and spending a trillion American dollars, it’s no better off either. [Since the government has put a gag order on all military information, it’s hard to know what’s really going on.]
- Iraq: An even bigger disaster. Saddam Hussein was a uniquely vicious dictator, but even at that there’s not much question that Iraq is worse off than it was in 2003. We got rid of Saddam, but got a dysfunctional sectarian government and ISIS in return.
- Libya: Another disaster. We got rid of Muammar Qaddafi, but got a Somalia-level failed state in return.
- Yemen: Yet another disaster. After years of drone warfare, Houthi rebels have taken over the government. This appears to be simultaneously a win for Iran, which backs the rebels, and al-Qaeda, which may benefit from the resulting chaos. That’s quite a twofer.
What a sorry track record …
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From the point of view of keeping the military-industrial-intelligence complex employed, this is a perfect track record. The more chaos created, wiith zero chance of an outcome to benefit any side in the conflict, the more employment opportunities for the military-industrial-intellignece complex.
What a perfect 'make-work' scheme... </sarc>
I can't believe this question is still being bandied about.
The purpose is not to win, but to spend taxpayers money. Taxpayers money has to be spent before a tithe comes back to our backstabbers in congress that promote wars. Taxpayers are financing the billion dollar election campaigns via government contracts for defense spending (and other spending as well), but the perpetual war is for one reason only. To suck taxpayers dry and convert their money into reelection campaigns. In other words, we pay for the brainwashing and conditioning done for backstabbers that run for key positions all over the US. Its called the PAC donation cycle.
McStain is the perfect example of a traitor that has never seen a conflict he didn't want the US to become involved in.
I can't believe the number of goofy reasons I read in this thread.
Right on, these guys don't care they are creating chaos. USA a mature empire that will engage in perpetual war until dollars can't be printed to fund it. Until then, more austerity, less democracy and more war for the empire. Oh, and the Soviet-style propaganda will only get thicker.
i call it systemic stealing and robbery of the treasury
by the selected pimps and whores sucking and selling balls for the
oligarchs. the grand scam of post national scheming, post
civilization nickel and diming while it lasts.
Inspectors urge Japan to dump water from Fukushima plant into ocean
http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-iaea-japan-water-fukushima-plant...
it is a plot we have fallen into,
they be playing a trick on us.
they tell you debts don't matter as
the insiders steal fortunes and have no
personal debt, the debts are dumped on
the public balance sheet where they don't
mater until they do. so the wars are
all winning and working to bankrupt the
governments that fall for the plot.
a global oligarch hustle executed, over time,
through the central bankers and their political
shills. i consider the public dick waving
political class, on all sides, partners
in a phony masquerade until they coherently address the
real issues of money, credit and sovereignty.
saber rattling with other peoples lives and
property in the balance is the kind of stupid
that could end the life of our species. why
grant it any respect at all. it is intolerable.
etc ...
the state of the world is despicable down
to the last red cent. thank god for the
good people who can recognize the plot.
As I perceive it and not that I condone the violence but merely as an observational exercise:
Lack of political will and desire
Lack of stomach of public for death civilian and military
Lack of knowledge about the enemy(ies)
Microwave mentality
The imposition of our culture on other cultures and not understanding the key differences or there effects.
The misconception that wars are won by machines and technology not men.
Self serving leaders
NEOCONS (Nazism)
NEOCOMS (lefties)
Ball less and brainless lapdog senior military leaders promoted based upon their adherence to an ideology and cronyism rather than talent.
Jingoism
Militarism
Arrogance
Hautiness
Ignorance
Elitism
Undeserved sense of superiority and the vulnerability that comes with that.
Finally through the redistribution of wealth to support and for the advancement of the military,industrial, intelligence, incarceration and information complex
(MI4-C).
This is done through the subjugation and enslavement of populations at home and abroad through a highly extractive system which installs and and props up dictators, thugs, mass murderers ( i.e. Iran,Iraq, Egypt, Afghanistan, panama, etc)
All done under the auspices of freedom and so-called democracy (with a straight face.)
Fortunately with history as our guide we know that which cannot last forever will not last forever.
Therefore with the evidence of empires once mighty and now defunct, the ability to reign and maintain hegemony is a folly.
I stated late last year the U.S. economy is in free fall and will collapse this year along with t's ability to project power and maintain its hegemony. Then the torch will be passed to the next country who will dominate world economics, policy and send their military to enforce their will. They will believe that they are "exceptional" become dictatorial, wage wars of extraction and subjugation and after a time decline to be followed by the next, and so on and so on.
Just my opinion
all evolution involves learning and
change, improvement, greater capacity
or functionality; greater adaptability.
general recognition and adherence to
the salient facts and truth. otherwise,
it would have never replaced anything.
no?
Yes I agree.
There has been no single watershed event in my life that made me see things differently but rather a steady chain of events that have revealed hidden truths and agendas over a lifetime.
International Debt IBBC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJZUIUrT_f0
Naaah, it's by design.
At the year 2000, there were four major countries in that area who still hadn't signed on to the WTO's Financial Services Agreement: Iraq, Libya, Syria and Iran.
Today, there are just two remaining: Iran and Syria.
Sure, Russia is another one which hasn't fully committed, and they have oil AND the largest natural gas reserves.
So, it's domination of Russia, if possible, and wars against Syria and Iran.
Unfortunately for the Global Banking Cartel, the plan of creating ISIS to overthrow Assad of Syria and destroy Hezbollah, and eventually enter Iran didn't quite go as planned: seems they may be going by their own agenda now!
Funny how that works out, kind of reminds one of WWII and the super-rich families support of Hitler's Third Reich, then Hitler goes off on his own global domination agenda.
My oh my . . . .
[FYI: Sometime around 2000-2001, a highly placed source at the DIA (Chris Mellon of the fabulously wealthy Mellon family, Bank of New York Mellon, etc.) "leaked" that Iran had the nukes, or was just about to have them --- remember, that was back 14 years ago! See how this shit works?]
Best imitation of McCain " were you there ? I met them ! their good people !they are moderates" Unfortunately Al CIADA has been targeted by ISIS for being too moderate. So this means that this senile war mongering NEOCON douche is attempting or has successfully given material aid to enemy combatants that have attacked US Citizens and Soldiers which is treason.
He and all like him need to be arrested and given the opportunity to exercise their due process rights. But let me ask did the Nazis lose WWII or just relocate and reorganize?
The problem for the war-mongering, regime-changing, resource-hungry, Anglo-American (AA) cabal is, they use deception and the fear of conquer and division, as a means of theft, and the victims have discovered, a while ago, the game plan and have developed ever more effective defences against it, much like you install a burglar alarm in your house to deter robbery. On the global scale, this is deployable and effective military might.
Russia, China, India and Iran are together way above the US in a European or Asian theatre and the AA will now lose each war they wage at cost to them. Of course the turning point was Iraq and now Syria is proving a harder nut to crack. Libya is the next domino to rise against the cabal’s destruction-control model, as is Ukraine, whilst Syria and Iraq are already removing that control and will be rebuilt without AA help.
I’ve often wondered why the AA cabal, have taken the same game plan so far, without improving the notion of larceny, into a more legal form of business, much like the mafia eventually started running ‘legit’ businesses.
Consequently, we are witnessing a move of power from West to East very quickly, economic, military and cultural. Better learn Chinese and Russian quick and get another legal way to do the business of state.
The USA is a war mongering nation that gains power through thug-O-cracy and regime change. All the listed countries currently in chaos
were engineered to wind up in chaos at the behest of the Central
Idiots Agency, and a braindead congress. American Imperialism has
only been out of power since March 10th 2008 @ 11:00am Bear Stearns New York City time. The headline to this article incorrectly states that this has been manifesting since 911 which, is untrue in the extreme, Z/H. George Washington is operating on a spin cycle of bullshit IMO.
One Million Ukraine Soldiers Flee To Russia After Thousands Die In Key Battle
"And with Ukraine being the 6th war since 9/11 the US and its EU allies have embroiled themselves in (along with Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and Yemen) this report concludes, one wonders when the people in the West, especially America, will awaken to the fact that NATO only exists to manage the wars created by its own existence…and has astoundingly lost them all!
....with the amount of equipment lost by the defeated and retreating Ukrainian troops called “beyond description”, and with only one Ukrainian volunteer battalion left in the battle zone, General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, NATO’s deputy supreme allied commander in Europe nevertheless continued the West’s war rhetoric today by stating that tensions with Russia could lead to all-out war.
President Putin, of course, this report notes, countered NATO’s General Bradshaw by warning the West:
“Nobody should have any illusions that it’s possible to achieve military superiority over Russia – or put it under some sort of pressure – as we’ll always have an adequate response to such reckless schemes. Our soldiers and officers have proven that they are ready to act decisively, coherently, professionally and courageously, performing the most difficult unconventional tasks, as befits a modern, experienced, combat-ready army, which values its traditions and military duty.”
No worries --- the Obama administration is sending more US advisors to train even more newly minted Iraqi soldiers for the fight against the Russians in the Ukraine!
Oh what a strategy . . . .
(I don't agree with most comments here. As an example, Big Oil was excluded from Iraq before 2001 and after the US invasion, (BP, Shell, SO, Texaco, Total, the original 5 of the Red Line Agreement) controlled OIL thereafter, mission accomplished)
LUCIANA BOHNE has it totally right. Here is an extract from Counterpunch:
The Wreckage of American Democracy The Logic of the Imperial Security State...
"Libya, in fact, provides the example, as good as any, of the logic of American imperial policy. After the bombing and the grotesque spectacle of the leader’s assassination, chaos ensues. Then, the “terrorists” move in to mop up the territory. Is there anyone sentient who still believes that the “terrorists” are the enemies of the empire? Is there anyone who still doesn’t see that the “terrorists” are the equivalent of the einsatzgruppen of the Hitlerite SS? With their sadistic theatre of public and grotesque terror, they provide the empire with reasons for intensifying interventions (Iraq) and renewing bombing campaigns for regime change (Syria). Moreover, the supposed advance of the “terrorist threat” serves to bind the empire’s vassals together in a common goal in the supposed struggle against terrorism– to “tighten security” at home and “to internationalize” foreign policy abroad. In reality, to get with the empire’s long-term goal of world domination.
...
Is this a failure? In moral terms, yes. In imperial-policy terms, no."
Speaking of 9/11 ….. did anyone notice that the 86 story Dubai Torch Building did not fall down even though a fire raged for over 3 hours?
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/20/middleeast/dubai-tower-fire/index.html
As far as the new wars are concerned:
It seems that a lone wolf in a Toyota Pickup is the most potent fighting force in the world. Evidently the Toyota is invisible to our smart bombs and the driver capable of shape shifting to avoid detection in our overly scrutinized world.
As a result of this phenomenon all democracies must sacrifice their freedoms so that the lone wolf will have to act alone, making it easier to identify her (notice the politically correct attribution there) in case she is driving a Yugo for instance.
While hordes of marauding mobs are evil and capable of evil doings (unless of course they are your marauding mobs doing lesser evil) they don’t require the elimination of democratic freedoms. That would mean the evil doing marauding mobs win.
The lone wolf however, requires the total elimination of liberty and freedom, mandates consistent surveillance and oppressive policing of thought and deed, without which the lone wolf wins and democracy loses.
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies.”—Groucho Marx
"Why does America keep losing it's wars?"
Because it keeps getting into wars with nothing to win.
Uktraine,...it's a Heist!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUPLAYER_globalresearchtv&v=-6UgHmeiXyo
so what would ISIS have to do to make their desire for statehood legitimate? perhaps if Germany put a few thousand Muslim immigrants into the gas chamber?
The solution to all this is simple. We need to impose gun control on the government of the US.
Even Fox News Calls Out Faked ISIS Execution Video:
http://winteractionables.com/?p=18656
One simple answer they have all in common. The US has a rat ass understanding of history there or chooses to ignore that same like Ukraine.
Don't confuse success on the battlefield (of which we have plenty) with 'nation-building', a mis-guided (western) notion at best.
of which we have plenty
Who is "we"?
I certainly don't identify with that colony of rapacious thugs on the Potomac.
What do you mean? We've made 3 where there was only 1, that's +2 nation states! /sarc
America has been a willing imperial tool for the last century.
Some of these "lost wars" are still ongoing battles. I think Obama will help you eventually lose against the terrorist Muslims. There was a study a few years ago that surveyed American Muslims and about 30% of them - mainly the youth sympathized with Jihadists to the point of agreeing with suicide bombings to advance Islam.
Where can I donate to buy them a vest?
War has changed. It is now about destroying money and all the things it buys. Then more money is needed and more things are needed, which once again, need to be destroyed.
America keeps losing its ware because its "generals" are always fighting the last battle.
Evening viewing pleasure.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BwZEgZgtT8
Extra credit.:
http://wakeupfromyourslumber.com/poroshenko-wants-nato-troops-in-donbass...
the commitment to war and preparation
for war blocks progress to the solution
that eliminates the path to war,
supreme idiocy and irony. the control
mechanism, pivot spot, vulnerability
heal where enters your moronic fear,
dictating your stupid future of uselessness,
impotence and death by
We need to turn our attention to the families who are causing all this.
0baMao acts like he's campaigning to be the first prez of the islamic state (caliphate) rather than functioning as prez of the US.
There's no profit in winning. I thought that was obvious by now.
"Disaster for who?" So saith the Military Industrial Complex profit machine.
If this were a movie, it would be The Midnight Cowboy, with America being played by Joe Buck and Israel being played by Ratso Rizzo.
GW must have just forgotten to blame Bush in ths latest ranting.....
Your an Idiot. You will have another Bush in power soon. Are your children old enough to fight and die for his profits. Lets See how that goes.
The last 4 American presidents have been the most corrupt, murderous leaders in the history of the world.
Bill Clinton said, "By the time you're president, someone else makes all the decisions".
We need to turn our attention to the oligarchal families who are causing all this. And we need to do that, soon. Very soon.
@atthelake the last four "presidents" have all been progressives. Constitutional conservatives would not engage in the violation of other sovereign nations. Period. What sovereign nations do is their business.
It's all about liberty, which progressives hate with a passion. Look how they denounce it as "freedumb". That should tell you something. Liberty does not allow for some insane criminal progressive to control you and steal your stuff.Liberty is freedom from progressive tyranny.
Progressive hate less control, less taxes less government and they will lie cheat steal and kill to be able to take your stuff and everybody else's. It is far easier to be a criminal than a man of honor.
You want to individuals and sovereign nations to keep their stuff? Then you want constitutional conservatives. Too bad there is not one in sight anywhere except Ron Paul.
The sitting usurper in the white hut is the most evil of all this countries "leaders" by a long shot. Blatant tyranny, blatant progressive.
Grimaldus
While I agree with your sentiments - the families you mention include the millions of American families that not only allow this to go on, but support it. These are the same families that went to the war propaganda film 'American Sniper' in droves. Those families produce the brain washed young men who pull the triggers and allow such wars to continue. Recently, I read on a forum about a young man two years out of college who had his civil engineering degree. He's working as an engineer and will be getting married this summer. But, he wants to drop all that and go into the military as an enlisted man for the 'adventure' of combat and to 'prove he's up to it' (actually that he's a 'man') and for 'patriotism'. - You can just about bet that this individual has no clue about the U.S. Constitution or the true nature of money. They don't teach that to the canon fodder in the 'schools'. He is a complete fool and it's likely that he has parents who are complete fools also. There is no Honor in being a brainless and amoral order follower who doesn't examine the nature and consequences of his own actions. The Nazi SS had many who were "just following orders" too. And people wonder how the Germans could have so blindly followed mad men to the point of their destruction in WW 2 ? If Americans don't wise up, we will pay a terrible price for our intentional ignor-ance.
You are forgetting Lenin Stalin and Mao killed exponential more people.
The last 4 American presidents have been the most corrupt, murderous leaders in the history of the world.
Bill Clinton said, "By the time you're president, someone else makes all the decisions".
We need to turn our attention to the oligarchal families who are causing all this. And we need to do that, soon. Very soon.
Simple because it is easy to smash a vastly inferior military foe in conventional terms. Just incredibly hard to put back the pieces especially in a country like Afghanistan or Iraq which has suffered long-periods of underinvestment, war, etc with a withered amount of starting social/economic/physical capital available. Doesn't help when those countries are incredibly large from a geopgrahic standpoint and include different ethnicities & language & cultures.
Go back and read the post-war reconstruction planning activities for Iraq just to understand how stupid and ignorant they were. It was basically assumed we would roll in, set up a functioning democratic state at the national and local level within 3 years, privatize and liberate most state-owned facilties which would lead to a windfall in tax revenues & job creation, and that the expanded oil production would pay for a decent chunk of all of it.
Also limited in what can be done because there hasn been an unconditional war between 2 large, advanced militaries since the end of WW2. Just take a look at Vietnam. The US could have bombed the dikes along the Mekong and other tributaries during rice harvest season and decimitated food production for N. Vietnam. Also would have essentially genoicide and resulted in mass starvation, illness, and death in N. Vietnam with the real possibility of expanding into a broader conflict including China becoming directly militarily invovled again on a large-scale.
Depends on your definition of "winning". What the elites do, is carefully pick their fights in places where it really doesn't matter what the outcome is {Vietnam, Korea} what matters is the duration and intensity of the action. Vietnam went on for around fifteen years, and was very intense of more than half of that time. Korea was never decided, only a cease fire was signed. The US keeps at least a Army division {19,000+ men} and an air wing over there to this day. The Cold War was a winner all the way around for them. Oh how the tears flowed at the MIC when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. A new enemy {threat} had to be found {created} to replace it. Enter 'The War on Terror". A war with no end. It is their wet dream. States and local municipalities depend on the military bases in their area, they are vital to their economies. A scale down, or worst yet, a base closure, is devastating to them. Lets face the cold, hard facts. A large part of the US economy now is WAR. Has been since 1940, with the creation of the Lend -Lease Act. The problem for them, is that they have run out of meaningless, far away places to wage their proxy wars. They are in places now where the outcomes really matter. Eventually, the morale of the troops in the field will be so low, that they will simply refuse to take to the field {that is what happened in Vietnam after 1968}. It's all been done for $ all along. And now, more than ever, they must feed the beast.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk3sURDS4IA
Why Does America Keep “Losing” Its Wars?
As you say - more to the point:
Why Does America Keep “Fighting” Its Wars?
Corporate Profits.
Mafia mentality ?