Breaking: Air strikes in Iraq and Syria

[TheKentuckian]

37. Eisenhower had actual objectives and a vision of what victory meant

Korea, I don't think there was any actual intent to win. I think it was more a steam venting, dick measuring, and MIC profit protection operation.

Vietnam had some of that factor but add that there was no victory that actually made any difference to anyone to be had from the start.

Even with the advantage of hindsight it seems this one was a situation where the only way to win the game was to not play it but unfortunately it was deemed cheaper and more profitable to deter the spread of communism with war rather than capitalism winning with a strong safety net and commited community investment to win by providing a better deal to more people.

Iraq, we knowingly and purposefully fought a country that had nothing to do with the attack on us and broke it easily enough really but got stuck with the bought it piece.

Afghanistan very vaguely made some sense, maybe from orbit or so but getting bogged down in an occupation never made strategic sense in relation to objectives of going after Al Qaeda.
They could have just be treated like Pakistan and ignored/bribed the government for the most part but even more so because Afghanistan had far less command and control than their neighbors.

Hubris.

We are damage dealers not occupiers and society builders. Give us a direct objective and we can go home and it is done but the occupation for social reinvention by force of arms stuff isn't our bag.