TOTAL WAR VERSUS HALF-ASSERY

A SURVEY:

In the European theater in WW2, FDR fought total war. FDR fire-bombed Dresden, carpet-bombed much of Europe, and refused conditional surrenders.

WE WON.

In the Pacific theater in WW2, Truman fought total war. When japan refused unconditional surrender, nuked Hiroshima. When they still refused, then he nuked Nagasaki. Only then did they relent.

WE WON.

In the Korean War, we fought we refused to fight total war; we fought to a draw - consigning North Koreans to 60 years of tyranny and poverty. And now they hold the entire region hostage to their nukes.

NOT A GOOD RESULT.

In the Vietnam War; we refused to fight total war; we fought to a draw, signed a treaty in 1973 - and then in 1975 the Democrat controlled Congress pulled the plug on the South Vietnam's government. The North violated the Paris peace Treaty, invaded the south leading to 2 million Boat People fleeing socialist repression. One million died while fleeing. 500,000 went to "re-education" camps. Cambodia fell - and socialist Pol Pot killed 3 million more there.

NOT A GOOD RESULT. (And now - 50 years later, Vietnam is begging for US investment and trade, something they could have had in 1965 and without sacrificing 3 million of their young to war against the USA.)

In 1991, we fought the Gulf War. After expelling Saddam from Kuwait, we refused to fight total war. We left Saddam in power. Despite agreeing to all the terms of the armistice, Saddam was free to tyrannize his people and support global terror. We had to inflict Iraq with sanctions, and impose a "no-fly zone" to protect the Shias and Kurds. Despite these efforts - and because of Saddam's continual violations of the terms of the armistice, it became necessary to invade Iraq - and finish the job we left undone in 1991.

We are still there. 50,000 US troops are still there.

In 2001, we invaded Afghanistan. We refused to fight total war. We let Bin Laden escape. We let Pakistan support the Taliban and let the FATA regions go unpunished.

As a result, 9 years later and we are still there.

THERE'S A PATTERN HERE FOLKS.

It's simple: if you want to win then you need to fight total war.

ADDENDUM:

Instead of having us fight with one hand tied behind our back, I think Bush should have dropped a few small nukes on Tora Bora in 2001. It would've killed Bin Laden and sent the right message: "DON'T TREAD ON ME!"

Bush could have given a speech to the world from the Oval Office after the dust had settled. He could've said this specifically to Muslim nations:

"If we are attacked again by islamo-terrorists, then we might respond by nuking Kabul and/or: Islamabad; Tehran; Bagdhad; Damascus; or any other Muslim capitol anywhere in the world - including Mecca. You know these islamo-terrorists better than we do; they're in your backyard: you must weed them out and lock them up - or you shall face the consequences of their actions."

We wouldn't have any troops in Iraq or Afghanistan or the Sudan or Yemen or anywhere else in the God-forsaken lands know by some as dar al islam.