by Jack
Attacking Canada – War of 1812, U.S. forces invaded Upper and Lower Canada because we expected a relatively easy victory. But, we greatly underestimated British power and the Canadian’s loyalty to the British Empire. Instead of an easy victory, the British handed the Americans a devastating defeat.
Battle of Antietam Sept. 1862, Robert E. Lee invaded Maryland and McClellan moved to intercept. Lee was outnumbered almost 3 to 1. A decisive victory here would have greatly shortened the war and spared countless lives lost over the next two years. However, McClellan’s poor tactics and his timidity to pursue Lee into Confederate territory allowed the Confederates to fall back, regroup and continue the fight and score major victories against the Union.
The Battle of Antietam resulted in 22,000 casualties, making it the bloodiest day in the history of the Americas.
Korean War – 1951. President Truman let General MacArthur’s convince him that we should pursue the North Korean Army all the way to the Chinese border and crush them. Thus ending the communist North Korean regime forever. An over confident MacArthur promised Truman the Chinese would do nothing, despite their warnings.
At this point MacArthur already had a great victory, South Korea was saved, the North Korean Army was by all accounts defeated, but he gambled that China would not be drawn into the war. He also thought if they did, he would be allowed to use nuclear weapons and then China and North Korea would be defeated. He was wrong on both counts. The result was a prolonged Korean War that ended in a stalemate.
The Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961. This was ill-conceived from the beginning. The CIA sold a stupid plan to Kennedy. The said a small force of mostly Cuban exiles could quickly rally support on the ground. In hindsight it was absurd to think a force of fifteen hundred ill-trained with no air support soldiers was going to rout the entrenched regime of Fidel Castro.
The Somalia Intervention of 1992. Lame duck President George W. Bush, sent 28,000 troops into Somalia ostensibly to help feed the starving locals. Prior to that food convoys were being hijacked by local warlords for their own profit. Bush’s successor was Bill Clinton. He allowed the Army to expand their mission and capture or kill the warlords, but Clinton and the Army leadership underestimated the resistance they would encounter. In the first attack Somali tribesmen turned on the Americans. In the end, eighteen Americans were killed, more than seventy others were wounded, Clinton turned tail and ran away, leaving the country worse off than before they arrived.
The attack was initiated without any national interest being at stake and the mission ended in an embarrassment for the United States. However, once we were committed to a battle that we started, it should have been fought to a successful conclusion. The warlords needed to go. Somalia needed a central government to maintain the peace and lastly we needed to save face and appear strong, not cowardly. Clinton was a grade A fool.
Disbanding the Iraqi Army 2003, with the nod from President George W. Bush, Paul Bremer (chief administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority) ordered the Iraqi Army to disband. It is difficult to overstate the unwise nature of this decision. The Iraqi Army was the best means for managing the sectors of Iraqi society most likely to engage in insurgent activity!
For many Iraqis, service in the Army (and in particular its performance against Iran) remained a source of personal and national pride. Eradicated was eighty years of institutional history. A colossally stupid move by an ignorant and naïve White House absent a shred of common sense.
Early withdrawal of US forces from Iraq 2012. President Obama was running for re-election and desperately wanted to take credit for ending the occupation of Iraq that was going into its 13th year. “You know I say what I mean and I mean what I say,” Obama said in Hollywood, Florida on Nov. 4, 2012. “I said I’d end the war in Iraq. I ended it.” But, Iraq wasn’t ready and Obama’s administration greatly underestimated the radical forces in Iraq and nearby that was eager to establish a Muslim Caliphate. Obama greatly overestimated the ability of the Iraqi Army. His foreign policy was built on hope that nobody would challenge them. When they did, he considered ISIS the JV team. If that was true then the Iraqi Army must have been the Pop Warner team. Their battle plan was to drop their weapons and run to Baghdad…it was never a real Army and anyone could see that, but apparently not Obama.
The thousands of lives during the Iraq occupation and the hundreds of billions of dollars we spent on them was all put at risk by withdrawing far too soon for the sake of Obama’s re-election and legacy. It was an incredibly stupid mistake and this region of the Middle East has been paying for it ever since. The Middle East is in chaos, people are dying, refugees are streaming into Europe, radicalism is on the rise and Obama’s outrageous incompetence is a large part of this mess.
I hope our nations generals and advisers study and learn from past mistakes but as to your question, a few problems come to mind:
People age, retire and die taking their experience with them. New guys can learn from history but they can’t absorb the depth of experience of their predecessors. Reading about Vietnam is different from actually being involved.
Circumstances are always different…whether in leadership, support from other nations, purpose, strength, and determination of the enemy, the unexpected…even weather conditions for heavens sake.
Level of strength of the people to support and sustain a win.
We’re people; we’re bound to repeat errors and make mistakes in judgement. That’s why we have to pick our battles and once done give it our all. That’s also why the notion of sustained peace, without divine intervention, is an exercise in futility.
The Iraq withdrawal wasn’t “early” and Obama’s insistence that he “ended the Iraq War” is one of his biggest lies; it’s a shame that it’s a convenient lie for both sides, so it’s the one lie the right has allowed him to get away with.
The war ended on a timetable agreed to by Bush. Obama tried to extend it, but the Iraqis wouldn’t let him and they wouldn’t give US soldiers any further immunity. Perhaps you could blame him for not being a stronger negotiator, but he did try to continue the war. He only took credit for it to save face and appeal to the majority of Americans who were sick of the war. These are all well-documented facts.
Whether ISIS would have became as strong had we stayed is open for debate; IMO, we weren’t exactly doing a bang-up job before we left, and the entire war was one long waste of life and resources. It’s possible we wouldn’t have made any difference had we stayed.
“Obama tried to extend it, but the Iraqis wouldn’t let him”
Oh boo hoo!
The “war” ended on a timetable agreed to by Bush but that didn’t mean we should turn our backs and just walk away. America, and the coalition forces by the way, had just spent a fortune and spilled one heck of a lot of blood to free Iraq and beat back al Qaeda. A president with adequate negotiating skills and clarity of purpose could have, and would have, pressured the Iraqi government to agree to a strength of force presence that would extend into the future. Where was Hillary Clinton?
Obama called the Iraq war a “stupid war.” He couldn’t wait to slam the door shut on Iraq. He had dreams of being the guy who got bin Laden but didn’t want too big a stain of blood on his hands..he was sure he could avoid that by the sheer magic of his persona. Still, the military (and civilian) casualties in his “smarter war” with drone strikes have been very high: “Seventy-four percent of the U.S. military personnel who have given their lives serving in the Afghan War died after Feb. 17, 2009, when President Barack Obama announced his first increase in the number of U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan.” That article was written in 2011. What did we gain? Nothing! In fact, if you take into account his entire ME effort and the Iran deal as well, we have made a huge dangerous mess that threatens the entire world at an extremely high cost.
Obama created a weak, ineffective American presence in the world. By speaking against our allies and sucking up to our enemies he practically invited the rise of ISIS. It’s success in gaining ground in Iraq is a direct result of the Obama administration refusing to follow through on AMERICA’S commitment to Iraq. The decision shouldn’t have been about HIS legacy, HIS dislike of the former president, or HIS feelings of contempt about the previous administration’s decisions. As our leader he doesn’t speak for himself. As the Bush successor he had the responsibility and the obligation to complete the greater mission…the defeat of Islamic jihadists. It was his responsibility to follow through and act so that Iraq would remain stable. It was his responsibility to make sure the world knew America still carried the big stick and aimed to win. Mistakes could have been forgiven but total failure…no.
American presence was not an “imperialist” presence. We are not an Imperialist nation as Obama suggested in his tour through Germany and England. We are a liberator nation…we believe in freedom and basic inalienable rights…but our purpose when we go to war is stopping tyranny so that people can be free. But Obama stood before the world and mocked America as an imperialist nation…that was infinitely stupid. He doesn’t know our history…or he just chooses to ignore it.
It’s possible we wouldn’t have made any difference had we stayed; we’ll never know. WWII suggests we have the keys to success but since then have been cautious and willing to abandon the mission.
It’s certain that had we stayed we would have needed a stronger leader to succeed and a populace that was clear about the relevance of the mission. The nations in the ME that are greatly disappointed and worried about what has happened probably wish we had both stayed in Iraq and had a stronger leader.
Tina, what did we gain by invading Iraq?
Turns out we’re both be wrong about Obama leaving Iraq. I am wrong about Obama abruptly “turning his back” on Iraq. I had forgotten some of his early effortts…his rhetoric about Iraq being a “stupid war” did not help my memory. From the article linked below:
There’s the answer Obama would give to your question.
A World Affairs Journal article answers your Iraq question and much more. It spells out everything the American press did not bother to tell the American people about the Bush years. It highlights what Bush inherited upon taking office and what Obama inherited when he took office. If you really want to know what happened during the Bush years and beyond this article is a good place to start. Its a bit long but also concise.
The article was obviously written early in the Obama presidency. It’s informs about what was won during the Bush years and creates a backdrop for what we know today:
I’m so glad I found this article. Our veterans and their families and the families of the fallen deserve to be remembered for what they won. The American people should know what these brave young men and women achieved.
It pains me deeply to say that politics took the first position with many American citizens as we fought the war during the Bush years. many loud voices found defeating and demonizing the Bush administration was more important, for reasons of political power, than showing unwavering support of our troops and for what America had committed to do. The America that fought WWII remained steadfast and united…as did all of our allies in that war. Our military under Bush lived up to that model, and according to some military leaders, exceeded the standard. Too bad we can’t say the same for our citizenry and it’s media.
Chris, WHAT DID WE GAIN BY INVADING IRAQ? Well for starters, we have the gratitude of the Iraqi’s who prefer being beheaded by ISIS than shot by Saddam Hussein.
Dang, you’re good!
An AP article posted tonight is relevant to these discussions:
The necessary questions to ask are what has been lost in the last seven years and what can be done?