U.S.A has never won a war?

Hey i was having an argument with a friend today and he claimes america has never Won a war, and really i could not think of one.

Is there a war that america has won ??

Well i don't know but if there is any please could someone let me know...

Tanx

mod edit: all caps title

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[edit on 24-10-2006 by UK Wizard]

You could argue that America won the war in the pacific in WW2, but not the whole of the war. Other than that; The American Civil war (of course they also lost it)?

Sorry Mods, still getting use to the etiquette..

Thanx apex so i suppose it's true. are you sure not even one!? Surely there must be.

Uhhhh, the American Revolutionary war?
We "Won" our independence.

Well, as I said that the war in the pacific was part of WW2 then not even one, but you could argue that the war in Europe and the War in the Pacific were seperate, so you could give them credit for that. Most US victories seem to be when they were allied with others, so they have had victories, just not on their own.

Edit, sorry, I forgot about the war of Independence.

[edit on 24-10-2006 by apex]

I'd say that they havn't.

Civil War, they lost and won.

Revolutionary War, I'm not too sure, but I'm certain that we Brits just gave up and let you have it.

WW1, no, it was a joint effort from everyone involved.

WW2, the Russians won it.

Vietnam, they gave up.

First Gulf War, no-one really 'won' did they?

War on Terror, need I say more?

The Spanish-American War was a definite U.S.-only win.

The Spanish-American war. What and when was that ??

Originally posted by Zanzibar
Revolutionary War, I'm not too sure, but I'm certain that we Brits just gave up and let you have it.

Yes that's what happens in war...one side is forced to "give up". In this case the US won....there is no reasonable argument here.

Originally posted by Zanzibar
WW2, the Russians won it.

At the end of World War II in 1945 Winston Churchill said that "the United States stand at this moment at the summit of the world."

Originally posted by Zanzibar
First Gulf War, no-one really 'won' did they?

Yes, the US won a military campaign, no question here.



[edit on 24-10-2006 by kinglizard]

Originally posted by kinglizard
Yes, the US won a military campaign, no question here.

[edit on 24-10-2006 by kinglizard]

They still didnt win a war, even if you think they won, they did not do it alone.

Originally posted by reaper2
The Spanish-American war. What and when was that ??

That's when we kicked Spain out of the new world and the Pacific in 1898. Spain ceased to be an imperial power afterwards.


Spanish-American War

Originally posted by Flyer
They still didnt win a war, even if you think they won, they did not do it alone.

Yes you are right...here are the troop deployments by country:

Troop deployment

United States: 550,000 troops
Saudi Arabia: 52,000 troops (only 20-40,000 took part in the liberation of Kuwait)
Turkey: 50,000 troops (did not take part in any battle)
United Kingdom: 43,000 troops Operation Granby
Egypt: 35,000 troops
United Arab Emirates: 1,000 troops
Oman: 950 troops
France: 14,663 troops Opération Daguet
Syria: 16,000 troops
Kuwait: 7,000 troops
Bangladesh: 2,000 troops
Pakistan: 5,500 troops
Canada: 4,500 troops Operation FRICTION
Niger: 500 troops
Bahrain: 200 troops
Morocco: 2,000 troops
Netherlands: 200 troops
Honduras: 150 troops

Seems to me America did a pretty comprehensive job more than once in it's history, the Cold War, Angola, Grenada, technology, trade, space, the UN... America doesn't always require the engines of war to be actively engaged... one might think that full-spectrum warfare is what keeps America going.

No front seems to be left unengaged whether domestically or internationally... the media, the net, biz, morals, seems all to be of "fair game". History doesn't always score a win for the victors either. America wrestles with itself as much as or more than extra-national entities 24/7/365 on all bandwidths.

I, as a Canadian, can recall a time, not all that long ago when "things American" were considered "good" without question. MLK Jr., Kennedy, Apollo... the future. Times change... so did America... so has everyone else.

America has no choice but to "win" in it's own terms, no matter what happens, no matter how it's re-contextualized and spun... it's what "America does" and not what "America was" that wins real warfare. The war of ideas and meaning will continue for America, others may be not so fortunate.

Victor K.

43'

[edit on 24-10-2006 by V Kaminski]

Thanks all for your input Guys.


The spanish american war is deffinitley a win..

And WW2 most lightly would not have been won without america, therefore i could argue that the american influence on the war was so overwhelming the war was then won only when they intervened when all the allies were on the difencive.

Great i'm armed and ready to go

I'm still waiting for someone to quote one war won by the USA since it became the USA. Let's see...Vietnam..got their arses kicked..Cambodia..Got their arses kicked...Korea...got their arses kicked...Afganistan...getting their arses kicked...Iraq..getting their arses kicked. The USA is a bunch of dumbed down illeterate pussies getting their arses kicked where ever they go. A good thing they didn't try South Africa in the 70's. They would have been wiped out as a nation!!!