Has the U.S ever won a war?

Originally posted by boncho
It's never been about who wins or loses, it's always about who comes out on top.

My opinion....

Good point and somewhat true.

The Nazis lost the main military battles in last days of WW2 in Europe, but with Operation Paperclip, the Soviets with their own recruitment program, and the other Ratlines, it appears to me that they still sort of came out on top.

Meaning their ideology and political agenda was not fully eliminated and it escaped from annihilation.

Originally posted by CALGARIAN
Wow lots of great feedback

I forgot about Gulf War. Yes, US won that!

The US didn't win the Gulf War. The coalition did. Here are the coalition forces:-

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by CALGARIAN


US lost Iraq?

I guess I missed the Saddam Hussein parade with revolutionary guards marching through Bagdad.

I think your thread is nothing more than a subtle jab at the US for whatever reason. You know that it's the politicians who start and end wars. If you're questioning the resolve of the US military then look at the 'battles' won or lost. US has rarely lost a battle even when severally outnumbered or outgunned. We didn't become a world super power by rolling over in battle. 

Nice trolling attempt though!

The only way to win a war is to avoid it all together.

Peace is only achieved when both sides see common ground.

The short answer: No, they have not.

They have merely been in just the right place at the right time to benefit from war, and even then only one or two times.

And YES, they have lost many battles, many, many battles, but from a political standpoint, America is doing ok right now.

Won, Revolutionary War.
Won, War of 1812
Won, Mexican American war (Mexico signed away California, N.Mexico, Arizona, etc).
Won, Spanish American War.
Won, WWI (well swooped in for the win at the end)
Won WWII (If you want to say the Russians won Europe fine, they wouldn't have without us, and we straight up one the Pacific, mostly with the Navy and Marines.)

Technically Speaking the Korean War is still on, it's just in a cease fire, but the South is still free of N.Korean troops.

Technically speaking....we won Vietnam. I know this flies in the face of accepted "history" but read on.

The Paris Peace Accords ended the war in January 1973 after the Linebacker II bombing raids. The Talks started in 1968 (in part because of the losses the NVA/VC took during the Tet Offensive, which while portrayed by the media as a US loss was actually a major victory against the VC/NVA). The talks stalled until the failure of the 1972 easter offensive by the NVA and then Linebacker II really stuck it to them. N and S Vietnam stayed divided with the South remaining a (semi) democratically elected government and ally of the US. The US withdrew all combat troops after the war, leaving only aid, some training and assistance, and the embassy.

en.wikipedia.org...

In the Spring of 1975, the North began a total conventional offensive to (essentially starting a 2nd Vietnam War). Without direct action from US forces, the S. fell in just a few weeks with the final dramatic "losing" scene of the US embassy being evacuated. There was not public or political desire to go back in and fight a 2nd war. Oddly, this was the first MAJOR offensive with conventional armored forces, and some observes estimate the US would have wiped out the offensive if our armored units were in country with air support.

Win, Grenada and Panama but those don't really count as small as these were. And walked out of.

Iraq and Afgahnistan. When we went in we toppled the governments we set out to do (Saddam and the Taliban) and helped install democratically elected governments. Whether these stay this way is something we will have to wait and see on.

reply to post by alldaylong


Look at the numbers in the forces.

en.wikipedia.org...

I'd say a lot of the fighting was done by Americans.

What disturbs me is when people say its not a victory when others had a hand in it. Like the war on terror a lot of you call it America's war/problem but when we win 10 years later you will say, "Oh we were there to its not an American win." When the truth is we did a majority of the work.

Originally posted by ashtonhz8907
reply to post by alldaylong

 

Look at the numbers in the forces.

en.wikipedia.org...

I'd say a lot of the fighting was done by Americans.

Thats not the point i was making. The poster said The US won the gulf war. It didn't. The Coalition did.

Originally posted by SrWingCommander
Won, Revolutionary War.
Won, War of 1812
Won, Mexican American war (Mexico signed away California, N.Mexico, Arizona, etc).
Won, Spanish American War.
Won, WWI (well swooped in for the win at the end)
Won WWII (If you want to say the Russians won Europe fine, they wouldn't have without us, and we straight up one the Pacific, mostly with the Navy and Marines.)

Technically Speaking the Korean War is still on, it's just in a cease fire, but the South is still free of N.Korean troops.

Technically speaking....we won Vietnam. I know this flies in the face of accepted "history" but read on.

As i said earlier the US didn't win The War Of Independence. The 13 independent colonies did. The US was not founded untill 1789. The war finished in 1776.

How can you say the US won the Vietnam War? The US object was to stop the communist take over. It failed.

The Paris Peace Accords ended the war in January 1973 after the Linebacker II bombing raids. The Talks started in 1968 (in part because of the losses the NVA/VC took during the Tet Offensive, which while portrayed by the media as a US loss was actually a major victory against the VC/NVA). The talks stalled until the failure of the 1972 easter offensive by the NVA and then Linebacker II really stuck it to them. N and S Vietnam stayed divided with the South remaining a (semi) democratically elected government and ally of the US. The US withdrew all combat troops after the war, leaving only aid, some training and assistance, and the embassy.

en.wikipedia.org...

In the Spring of 1975, the North began a total conventional offensive to (essentially starting a 2nd Vietnam War). Without direct action from US forces, the S. fell in just a few weeks with the final dramatic "losing" scene of the US embassy being evacuated. There was not public or political desire to go back in and fight a 2nd war. Oddly, this was the first MAJOR offensive with conventional armored forces, and some observes estimate the US would have wiped out the offensive if our armored units were in country with air support.

Win, Grenada and Panama but those don't really count as small as these were. And walked out of.

Iraq and Afgahnistan. When we went in we toppled the governments we set out to do (Saddam and the Taliban) and helped install democratically elected governments. Whether these stay this way is something we will have to wait and see on.

"Oh we were there to its not an American win."

reply to post by ashtonhz8907


Win? There is no win. It is an un-winnable battle but I dont think the point is winning, I think the point is "losing" as in us losing more and more freedoms every day and this "war" is their excuse.

reply to post by CALGARIAN


they walked into Iraq and left.

they are going to be leaving Afghanistan eventually.

you really have to ask yourself.

has every country on Earth been played by the dumb Americans.

you do all the work, we get all the money.

reply to post by SrWingCommander


So your definition of win does not require any formal unconditional surrender, simply a regime change?

A US declaration of war is an entire other matter.

Well, I could be more honest and say Democrats lost Vietnam.

From the Wiki page on the Paris Peace Accords.

"Nixon had secretly promised Thieu that he would use airpower to support the Saigon government should it be necessary. During his confirmation hearings in June 1973, Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger was sharply criticized by some Senators after he stated that he would recommend resumption of U.S. bombing in North Vietnam if North Vietnam launched a major offensive against South Vietnam. However, Nixon was driven from office due to the Watergate scandal in 1974 and when the North Vietnamese did begin their final offensive early in 1975, the United States Congress (controlled by the Democrat party) refused to appropriate the funds needed by the South Vietnamese, who collapsed completely. Thieu resigned"

reply to post by SrWingCommander


You do realise that The War Of Independence involved French and Dutch forces fighting with the colonists?

It was only the 13 Colonies that gained independence, not The United States. The US was founded in 1789, 13 years after the war finished.

Originally posted by seabag
reply to post by CALGARIAN

 

US lost Iraq?

I guess I missed the Saddam Hussein parade with revolutionary guards marching through Bagdad.

I think your thread is nothing more than a subtle jab at the US for whatever reason. You know that it's the politicians who start and end wars. If you're questioning the resolve of the US military then look at the 'battles' won or lost. US has rarely lost a battle even when severally outnumbered or outgunned. We didn't become a world super power by rolling over in battle. 

Nice trolling attempt though!

No! I'm not trying to start anything, it was just a serious question...
Getting good feed back, just in case the talk comes up in real life and I want to intervene

(US didn't "lose" in Iraq, they destroyed the Iraqi army in 2 weeks, but it wasn't the "Mission Accomplished" after a few months like Bush said)

Well, I can tell you for sure, that we are in the middle of losing a war due to the communists currently occupying the White House.

While it may be said we won the cold war, the fact is, we stopped fighting it, but the Russians didn't.

reply to post by alldaylong



Yes I do realize that. So OK let's rephrase because your picky.

The 13 colonies, who would become the United States, with the help of the Dutch and French, drove British forces and their mercenary Germans from the territory said colonies claimed.

reply to post by SrWingCommander


Hes purposely nitpicking in every post, which is why I havent even bothered to reply to anything hes said.

reply to post by Juggernog


You call it nitpicking. I call it facts.
I only deal in facts (like most sensible people do)