A cellphone photo shows an armored vehicle belonging to Iraqi security forces in flames Tuesday, after hundreds of militants launched a major assault in Mosul. Some 500,000 Iraqis have fled their homes in the large city since militants took control. AFP/Getty Images

Tom Engelhardt argues that the U.S. approach to war is pointless. “The United States has been at war — major boots-on-the-ground conflicts and minor interventions, firefights, air strikes, drone assassination campaigns, occupations, special ops raids, proxy conflicts, and covert actions — nearly nonstop since the Vietnam War began. That’s more than half a century of experience with war, American-style, and yet few in our world bother to draw the obvious conclusions.”

Here are a handful of the conclusions Engelhardt has arrived at:

1. No matter how you define American-style war or its goals, it doesn’t work. Ever.

2. No matter how you pose the problems of our world, it doesn’t solve them. Never.

3. No matter how often you cite the use of military force to “stabilize” or “protect” or “liberate” countries or regions, it is a destabilizing force.

4. No matter how regularly you praise the American way of war and its “warriors,” the U.S. military is incapable of winning its wars.

5. No matter how often American presidents claim that the U.S. military is “the finest fighting force in history,” the evidence is in: it isn’t.

Related Questions

I the past we have kept an occupying force in most of those countries. Germany, Japan, Korea. We pretty much left Iraq hanging out to dry.

Yanotha Twangai

I’d say we left Afghanistan hanging out to dry when we shifted the focus to Iraq.

Gordon near Two Harbors

Germany, Japan, and Korea are/were unified countries. Many Middle Eastern countries are not. Only “strong men” like Sadaam Hussein (Iraq) and Assaad (Syria) have been able to keep the populations that were artificially combined by western powers after WW1 contain and under control–mostly through violence/fear.

Ralphy

The past practice of leaving an occupying force was severely criticized by Brent Scowcroft, National Security Advisor to Presidents Ford and HW Bush. It was on his counsel, seconded by Colin Powell, that convinced President HW Bush not to occupy Iraq after the 1st Gulf War. I agree with their assessment – posting military occupation forces around the world is unsustainable and counter-productive. It bleeds resources and fosters resentment and a breeding ground for enemies.

PaulJ

We aren’t declaring wars. The conflicts we do get in seem to be stopping the dominoes from falling and to be keeping the system (top heavy as it is) going. And anyone who says our military isn’t the best every just because it isn’t marching over a flatten Berlin, is just trying to sell books.

Jim G

We haven’t won any wars since World War II. Stalemate and truce (Korea}, and postponing and eventual defeat (Vietnam and now possibly Iraq). In Afghanistan, we took our eyes off the limited objectives and ended up with our longest war and Afghan government animosity. We are batting zero. Glorifying war and the warriors is used by our Military Industrial Complex to enrich their coffers as they fill coffins. It’s time to heed President Dwight David Eisenhower admonition to beware politics of Militarism and its godfather, our broken American capitalist system.

Yanotha Twangai

The Granada invasion, the Panama invasion, and the First Gulf War would all have to count as military victories. Other than that, you’re correct.

Jim G

Panama and Granada were operational victories. We have many so-called victories. We do know how to take islands and specific land areas. We learned how to do that in WWII. The First Gulf War ended after 100 hours. We won the battle, but not the war. Bush II attempted to win the Iraq war, but failed. Leaving this mess we currently see unfolding in today’s news. Considering that we are so bad at using military means with the ruthlessness required to assure last century’s imperialistic goals, maybe we need to reform our militaristic society instead of trying to remake the world in our image.

Gayle

Granada was a practice run and a demonstration of power. Panama was a recall of our puppet. Both were essentially unopposed militarily. Both served as a reminder to the war lords and gangsters we had installed to covertly run those countries to our south that the US is who they answer to.

whitedoggie44

So the stalemate that kept 40 million S Koreans out of Kim’s death camps had no value? Your ripping of capitalism makes me suspect you work at mcdonalds, wishing for the raise to $10.00 per hour. For some of us willing to takes risk, American capitalism beats any alternative by miles. Good luck with the wage boost.

Jim G

My father, a marine in the 1st Division, landed at Inchon, Korea and was luckily wounded in the first fire fight with the “volunteer Chinese” soldiers on November 3,1950. I say luckily because his company was reduced to 30 effective marines three weeks later at the Chosen Reservoir after the surprise attack by 100,000 “volunteer Chinese”. MacArthur and the brass had continually denied the Chinese entry into the conflict in spite of evidence and urging of his own unit commanders. It was too late to save the Marines, 7th Calvary, and Tenth Corp . This denial resulted in the longest retreat in American military history. Our defeat was the result of magical thinking and American hubris, an quizzically unique characteristic, has a special role in this debacle. Our imminent victory was illusionary and delusional. It led to three more years of stalemate and millions of unnecessary civilian and military casualties.

I have no problem with capitalism. That is the American capitalist system that spread wealth equally from the end of WWII to the mid 70’s to all classes,. It is the current broken American economic system which cuts out the middle and working class and gives their wages to the very top 1% and most disturbingly to the 0.1% that I want to see reformed. If our leadership won’t do it soon, citizen resentment will continue to grow and stability of the whole system will be in jeopardy.

whitedoggie44

You failed to answer the question of saving millions from the N Korean death camps. As far as American capitalism, yes, in my world we call it MERIT.

Yanotha Twangai

By what logic does a Wall Street bankster “merit” a multi-million dollar bonus for shuffling money around?

Gordon near Two Harbors

And you fail to understand the current state of American capitalism. If you think a widening income gap and an increasing ratio of have-nots to haves is good for our future, you had better check out the history books and learn what happens to countries that go down that path–especially when most folks in the military fall into the “have nots” category.

Ralphy

You must be reading something between the lines that I don’t see. Ripping capitalism? I didn’t read that. A broken capitalistic system? Without a doubt. An economy based on military power and loading the rewards to an elite ruling class is a perfect formula for a failed country. History is littered with failed empires that have not learned this lesson. If we don’t learn from history, we will surely repeat it. Jim G’s concerns are spot on.

Jamie

Yes. We should stay out of more of them. We don’t have to join every fight we’re invited to. When we do go, it should be only for a direct threat to the security of the United States. The police can never say they’ve won the war on crime. We’re trying to police the world.

Sue de Nim

It’s not that we’re not winning wars; it’s that we’re failing to win the peace. Violence never produces anything good. The best possible outcome of any act of violence, military or otherwise, is to remove something bad and make room for something better. It only makes sense if the violence is less bad than what it’s intended to destroy, and it’s only worth the trouble if there’s follow-through that produces something good. It was the Marshall Plan, not the war effort, that made the outcome of WWII good.

Paul

True, the Marshall Plan turned Europe around, not the troops left in Germany.

The real problem is what President Eisenhower identified on his way out the door – the perpetual military industry. Without conflicts, they are not needed to such a degree. So they strategically set up shop in 435 areas of the country and is now a jobs program for members of the U.S. House and Senate.

And now we are looking at building another $12.8B aircraft carrier, which I believe would be our 12th, while the runner up is Italy with 2. And a big ol’ target for missiles, a sign of empire more than good use of defense money. Or a handout to the military industry by politicians.

Follow the money. Always.

kevins

I wish also that we would take the time to understand (and educate the public about) the cultural and historical contexts of the lands we enter militarily. To think that we can change cultures that are thousands of years old, just with troops and dollars, is naive and costly. If I remember correctly, Kabul was founded before Rome, something that is most impressive, but also suggests that any occupation would be quickly outlived in its effects on the enduring culture. I heard a great line the other day on one of the Sunday morning shows; with regard to the Taliban, “we have all of the watches, but they have all of the time”.

Gary F

Don’t forget Obama’s war, Libya! that was a roaring success! Right?

Ralphy

Please explain how the Arab Spring revolution in Libya that deposed Gadhafi was Obama’s war. If I understood that was the case, and you weren’t just being sarcastic, I would be giving you an “up”.

Rich in Duluth

Yes. We should fight wars differently by not going to war and not using military force unless the U.S. or its allies are attacked directly by another state and war is declared by Congress. And, if a war is declared, it should be worth an all out effort including a draft; rationing, war taxes, and the intent to completely destroy the enemy (think about Dresden, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and hundreds of large and small towns completely destroyed in WWII as examples of how to “win” a war). We can’t fight and win a “nice” war where we protect civilians, churches, historical sites, etc. And you can’t force a political philosophy on a people who don’t want it.

Unless we are attacked by another country, we should deal with oppressive governments through diplomacy, patience, consensus building with other nations, economic incentives, etc.

I lived through the Viet Nam era. At that time, I had hoped that we, as a people, had learned something about the use of war to get our way in the world. In Viet Nam we spent 60-thousand lives and got nothing in return, although the military industry did well. This time around we’ve spent around 5-thousand lives and still got nothing in return. When will we ever learn?

Gayle

Every adversary is different. Different culture, different motivation, different risk/benefit, different threat or potential for friendship.
We need to understand their point of view and their motivation (and not in simplistic jingoism slogans such as “They hate us for our freedom”).
We need to understand that our big hammer is not always the right tool.
We need to explore peacful alternatives such as trade, food and medicine.
We need to respect their history and culture and not vilify anyone that is not for us as being against us, and as being evil and sub-human.
We need to find an alternative in our global relationships other than imposing our will and ways.
We need to understand that if we have complete military domination over an adversary, they will simply find another way to fight – we need to learn from our own War of Independence, or from modern wars faught in Viet Nam and the Mid-East. As General Schwarzkopf warned after the first Gulf War, our military superiority is so overwhelming to our potential adversaries, future wars will be fought against guerrilla combatants that will be hard to identify, monitor or confront.
We need to understand what we desire the relationship to look like a generation or two after the conflict, and have a Plan A and a Plan B to get there.
We need to support our allies, and understand that a threat to our friends and partners is a threat to the United States.
We need a Department of Peace, with the same sized budget and staff as the military.

whitedoggie44

does this include N Korea, Iran? You, like your president would refer to stick you head in the sand and let the next president deal with the mess. They cut off our heads with a dull knife and we offer them medicine. We would all be speaking russian if obama had been in charge. Peace through strength not through weakness.

Gayle

The Korean War was fought in the 1950’s. Hard to blame the 38th parallel on Obama. North Korea went nuclear during W Bush’s presidency. Hard to lay that on Obama, too. Iran leaped to the fore-front as the leading power in the Middle East when W Bush took Iraq down. Hard to lay that on Obama. Are you blaming Obama for not starting unprovoked wars with North Korea and Iran? Or have you so vilified President Obama in your mind that everything you don’t like is somehow his fault? Clearly you are either tragically misinformed or so biased that facts don’t matter.

whitedoggie44

What I believe is that Obama is as clueless about foreign affairs as he is about economy. There is a consequence when the world views you as weak and indecisive. Russian tanks in the Ukraine, militants in Iraq and Syria. Will they next head to SA? When oil is at $300 a barrel,remember next time not to vote for a jr senator from a bankrupt state who happens to have a knack for good speeches.

I would bet I am clearly more informed than you and unlike our current press, understand the implications of a president with no leadership skills.

You can fool some of the people all the time and appears they are all democrats.

Gayle

You may well be “more informed”, but that doesn’t mean you are not misinformed. Or that you are so biased that facts don’t matter. Or both. Your posts are almost always ideological rants that have no basis in fact or history that eventually degenerate into disrespectful and childish name calling that typically wander well off topic. I believe the term used for such a poster is “troll” which seems pretty apt. Like many others, I am choosing to no longer participate in discussions with you in this forum. I hope you enjoy reading your posts spewing your disturbed view of the world. I’ll enjoy no longer wading in your muddy echo chamber.

David P

Thanks Gayle. I couldn’t have said it better, and it needed to be said.

whitedoggie44

Good luck Gayle, not the first democrat with their head in the sand. My view is based on facts and nothing more. The fact that obama’s recovery is now the worst since the 1930’s tells much about your leader.

Gordon near Two Harbors

Why don’t you volunteer to head overseas to fight America’s “enemies”?–or encourage your kids/grandkids (if you have any) to do the same? It’s always fun to sit on your ass and watch other folks do the fighting, isn’t it?

Americans are SICK AND TIRED of wasting our blood and treasure on foreign civil wars. It never ends, and those in the Military Industrial Complex only enriched themselves at the expense of American lives.

PaulJ

We need a force somewhere in between soldiers and police to counteract these infiltrators/insurgents/gangster/Nazi/clan types. Neither the rules of war nor the rule of law is respected by some adversaries and it is no use pretending that it is.
A heavily armed secret police force seems to work for some governments. Making our high value soldiers walk through home made mine fields seems careless.

PrivateGlee

The USofA needs to focus its fight on the war at home. For to long the United States have ignored the issues at home & focused on foreign policy. Too many countries we rattle the saber at are trying to have their own revolution. We will dictate a policy that will benefit us for the now, thinking this will remain for generations. Historically this has never worked. The people have grown weak & tired of foreign policies that force us into battles that do not win anything more than temporary government that we have to replace later on. Obama’s cold speech to Russia about letting a country decide their fate was a joke. The US will over run any government they see a profit in. This is a sick perversion of our own foreign policies. If the US wants to remain with any integrity in the global economy, we would remove ourselves from armed aggression of our desires & learn better skills to negotiate a fair price for goods. There may be a chance that exporting work could even help domestic employees without the intervention of unions. The policy of over running a foreign government for profit while automating our society is one of failure with a population boom & no one to pay for international dictatorship. So, yes, I think it is time to fight wars differently… Save the fighting for wars, not profits.

Gordon near Two Harbors

Let’s get out of the Middle East altogether. The region has been setting itself for a hellacious blood bath for many decades, due to tribal and religious conflicts, as well as producing more children than it will EVER be able to support. The arbitrary national borders established by the western powers after WW1 never took into account traditional homelands, so many/most of these “nations” are artificial anyway.

Shia and Sunni fighting each other is not new news. Iran supporting the government of Iraq is. It is certainly in Iran’s best interest if Iraq is stable and somewhat predicable. Nobody wants a destabilized failed state next door. I suspect Iran understands their adversary, the Sunni’s, better than the US did, and will be more effective than we were. If Iran is actually going to pick up the fight, it may well prove to be in the US’s best interest, too.

Ringo

It has always been tribal there. The imposed borders mean little or nothing to those living there.

Bush II admitted – famously – after we invaded that he did not even know about the tribal nature of the region. Failed education for him, but his “advisors” clearly did not bother to inform him of the basic history of the region. But someone made lots of money on it all.

Ralphy

I agree completely with your comment and with Gayle’s. The first and most important lesson in going to war is to know your enemy. My point being that we didn’t and still don’t know or understand the ways and motivations of the Sunni’s, while the Iranian people do.

PaulJ

And they’ll be nuke’n for Putin.

Ralphy

I misread your post earlier. I understood it to mean Iran is on their way to becoming the next Iraq. Iran joining the fight against the Sunni insurgents may well prove to be a good thing.

Pearly

I wish I was as broke as the Clinton$.

Jeff

We should probably just build Jeagers (giant robots) like in the movie Pacific Rim…the terrorists would be scared as hell to face them, plus it would look pretty cool.

JQP

War and militarism are no longer tools of long-term change. The are only tools of destabilization.

We need to act decades ahead to avoid wars. that cost generates just as much commerce … but .. nobody ever turned around and attacked the US soldiers with washing machines, tractors and cans of pepsi.

2014NOW2014NOWTODAYNOWTODAY

Really? MPR this is a no brainer. The USA needs to mind its own business. We are all Humans. All Humans are fighting for their own survival right now. For example when I am dead I’ll be out of student debt. I am OK with that. It’s time now for the USA to stop spending millions of dollars on the Military in order to kill other human beings around the planet Earth. I am very much in favor of Home land Security but the reality is the War in Afghanistan and Iraq continue to be longer than the war in Vietnam. Let’s move forward before we kill the children that were born in the 70’s, 80’s 90’s and NOW. I want my tax dollars to go to Jobs, Housing, Education, and the Environment. The USA in no better than any other country. All Humans take a good look in the mirror. I’ts time to live and move forward now and today. God bless the USA.

ag

Personally, I tend to agree with all you statements. We creating nothing but mess and destabilization in any country we touch. These are the recent examples: Yugoslavia, Irak, Afghanistan, Libya, Georgia, Egypt, Syria and now Ukraine.
My personal answer to the question is: USA shall stop fighting and start to realize new political realities. World is rapidly changing and political doctrine to use armed forces unilaterally whenever we want and wherever we want has never worked and will not ever work. With China emerging as an economical world leader and Russia and other large developing countries claiming their geopolitical interests USA better find the way how to make them friends and not enemies and respect their economical and political interest.
The first that comes in mind, is that our political leaders did not get enough college education on world’s history and culture and do not quite understand what are they doing starting a war and what is going to happen next and in five years.
However, everything starts to be logical, if “mess” is the goal. If forget about all the words like democracy, freedom and so on and only look into the facts, all becomes logical.
Let’s take most recent Ukrainian example and only facts:
1. February, we strongly support peaceful protest in Kiev. Our officials and embassy personal are all among “Maidan” people. “Peaceful” demonstrators occupying government buildings and firing “Molotov cocktails” into police. We are threatening legitimate President Yanukovich at February on use of any police force against “peaceful” demonstrators. Then people get killed. Fare investigation has not happened even now. So, who were the killers is unknown. There is the second opinion that this was just a provocation. “Peaceful” demonstrators forcing legitimate government and constitutional court out of offices and setting new government. We immediately recognize it.
2. Later, Donetsk people doing exactly the same things as Maidan. Really occupying government buildings and not yet using any weapons or force. All they request originally was federalization and Russian as the second official language.
3. In response New “legitimate” government starting military operation with use of heavy artillery, tanks, jet fighters ad so on killing both “separatists” and civilians. We starting to support “reasonable” use of military force. Donetsk people starting fighting back and more military force becomes “reasonable”. At the moment thousands of civilians and “separatists”, including children are killed. Tens of thousands of refugees flooded bordering Russian provinces. Hundreds of thousands have nothing to eat, drink, have no medical facilities (destroyed by air strikes).This all is kind of does not exist to us, we are happy with new elected President.

Looks like a bad Hollywood movie? Looks like against humanity? Agree, but may be there is a pan:
1. VP Biden visits Ukraine. Largest Ukrainian gas producer hiring Hunter Biden to the board of directors.
2. Area of cities of Slavyansk, Kramatorsk the richest natural gas basin … wiped out of a presence of humans by Ukrainian military. Eventually will become a “desert”.
3. Relations between Russia and UE stretched to the limit by our forced sanctions.
4. Ukraine owns gas pipe from Russia to UE and may shut it down any time.
5. Time to start making money coming soon.