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Iraq war is not a very good example, in fact US' military endeavors have been pretty on point ever since Vietnam (though Afghanistan maybe not so much). It's the keeping the peace thing they suck at.

Iraq's a good example because it shows war isn't about taking the capitol and capturing the leader. All the tanks and ordinance mean little when the enemy can simply not wear a uniform and become indistinguishable from the population.

 

[goomba]

Iraq war is not a very good example, in fact US' military endeavors have been pretty on point ever since Vietnam (though Afghanistan maybe not so much). It's the keeping the peace thing they suck at.

what exactly has been on point then?

 

[spekkeh]

what exactly has been on point then?

They handedly defeated a standing army of some 400 thousand troops with advanced aviation with very few casualties (most from friendly fire) in the blink of an eye. I'd say it was one of the most efficient, one sided battles in military history.
The problem was more that afterwards they gave the key of the house to the oppressed majority and think they'd play nice with their former oppressors.

 

[Canis lupus]

Ok, so I agree with most of what you said but the removal of the Iraqi government was necessary for the long term purpose of Muslims in the Middle East.

Isn't the dissolution of the Iraqi army and intelligence infrastructure cited as one of the biggest mistakes America made after the invasion and pretty much the cause of all the chaos? Lots of its top ranking Iraqi officials became militants. Sure Saddam dynasty needed to go, but America eliminated any order there was in the country.

The ISIS problem could be solved without putting a single boot on the ground. Nobody has the stomach to pull a Dresden or Tokyo again though so it won't happen.

No, on the contrary. If civilians die that will only help their cause. Bombing innocent people is one of the primary reasons for the anti American sentiment in the middle east.

 

[Foutrologue]

There's only one way to solve this... Tsar Bomba II
or just do nothing hopping that the rebels (which are actually also terrorists groups btw) fuck ISIS up..

Humanity lost a long time ago..

 

[StayDead]

They handedly defeated a standing army of some 400 thousand troops with advanced aviation with very few casualties (most from friendly fire) in the blink of an eye. I'd say it was one of the most efficient, one sided battles in military history.
The problem was more that afterwards they gave the key of the house to the oppressed majority and think they'd play nice with their former oppressors.

Illegally though. They shouldn't have been anywhere near Iraq in the first place. They also later led to the death of many soldiers as the fighting got worse in Iraq after the invasion and this is stories coming from people I know who fought in Iraq with the military, albeit not the American one.

 

[TheContact]

This is really all Bush's fault. Taking down Saddam was the worst thing that happened in the Middle East since the 80s war with soviets vs Afghanistan

 

[Seductivpancakes]

They handedly defeated a standing army of some 400 thousand troops with advanced aviation with very few casualties (most from friendly fire) in the blink of an eye. I'd say it was one of the most efficient, one sided battles in military history.
The problem was more that afterwards they gave the key of the house to the oppressed majority and think they'd play nice with their former oppressors.

I think a lot of people see the Iraqi war as the initial opening invasion, all the way till we pulled out of the country.

 

[omg_mjd]

I teared up when I saw the photo of her and her dog in the linked article. You want to just freeze that moment forever. RIP.

 

[16BitNova]

Fuck that's horrible. Honestly, I think as a parent I would rather leave something's unheard. I can't imagine hearing something like that happening to any of my loved ones. May she rest in peace.

 

[Calamari41]

I think a lot of people see the Iraqi war as the initial opening invasion, all the way till we pulled out of the country.

So many completely different things happened during that time period. To take that view of the war is pretty much useless. I understand that it's the easiest way to look at it, but if you want to actually analyze the war, you have to go just a tad deeper than that.

 

[Beartruck]

Yes, ISIS trolls GAF.

You joke, but ISIS does a lot of recruitment through internet and social media. The more they're in the news, the more people know about them, the more their recruitment increases. They use stories like these practically like signal lights for sociopaths.