21 October 2023

When We WANTED To Win -

The year 1863 was a big turning point in our Civil War. In the West U.S. Grant realized shutting down the South's ability to use the Mississippi for resupply would cripple them. To that end he laid siege to the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, using artillery to continuously shell the town. That resulted in Men, Women, and children digging caves to survive, denying the Rebels ammunition,  and forcing soldiers and civilians to go hungry for seven weeks until they finally surrendered.
Of course there was wailing and gnashing of teeth from civilians in the North because of how inhumane this treatment was...
NAH, forget that!
The North wanted to win! They rejoiced when Vicksburg surrendered.

Tecumseh Sherman used a "scorched earth" policy in his "March to the sea" in the East, making life as miserable as possible for the enemy stating "War is Hell", bringing an end to hostilities.
WINNING was the goal.

In World War II, Allied forces in Europe used incendiary bombs to annihilate the town of Dresden, killing (hundreds of?) thousands.
The firebombing of Tokyo yielded more deaths than dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
And then there ARE some questions about the necessity of using "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" to end the war, (although most of those questions are now "Monday Morning Quarterbacking"). 
Few questioned our actions in 1945.
Back then we WANTED to win.
What has happened to us since?

In Korea we fought with one hand tied behind our back.
Same thing in MY WAR, Viet Nam.
It seemed we didn't want to hurt our enemy "too badly".
Result?
Our military actions now seem to drag on forever, likely resulting in more casualties on both sides of the shooting.

Our weak "leadership"... our country is now being tested all around the world.
Why?

It's time for BIG change.
Remember in November.





3 comments:

Ed Bonderenka said...

We won in Vietnam until the Democrats in Congress sold us out.

Gerry said...

Rule 1 Never lose a war. Very bad, can not recommend
Rule 2 Never get in a war you if you don't plan on winning.
Rule 3 Cost of winning a war is very high, just not as high as not winning.

Old NFO said...

Yes, there is no longer any 'impetus' to win anymore... Grrrr....