American War Business, not about winning but about expending weapons and ordnance

As we also found out from later events, they USA could not even conquer North Korea by supporting South Korea. They were categorically defeated in Vietnam, running scared with just their pants on and tails between their legs. Of course both North Korea and North Vietnam were backed by the Russians and Chinese. Afghanistan was another glaring failure of the USA.
The manner the USA were evacuating on rooftops during the closing stages of the Vietname War showed the intensity of their fear. At the height of the Vietnam War, more than half a million USA troops were on the ground in Vietnam. USA total air superiority was without any doubt, with carpet bombing carried out day and night. While the USA was doing that, the North Vietnames were able to escape the bombing by hiding in underground bunkers. Ingenius!

Throughout their campaign in Vietnam/Indochina, the USA dropped more than 7.6 million tons of bombs, compared to 2.1 million tons by all countries during WW2. That was the devastation they were prepared to do to North Vietnam, and the Chief of Staff of US Air Forces then, Curtis LeMay, was touted to have gloated that they were going to bomb North Vietnam back to the Stone Age.

Agent Orange, the anti vegetation biological/chemical, was aerial sprayed on jungle areas that even today made the land unsuitable for agriculture and still causing deformities in newborn babies. 'Scorched Earth' mentality was on the USA minds, wanting to destroy Vietnam totally in case it falls to the North. Amid all these, no one shouted war crimes. No action by the ICC.

Then there was Afghanistan, where the USA stayed for 20 years and still lost the war to Taliban farmers bearing small arms. The USA Military fled, leaving behind billions of dollars of weapons, on top of huge numbers of US citizens left behind. Last I heard, the Taliban restored some of the weapons left behind and are able to use them. How could an improvished rag tag outfit managed to chase the USA out of Afghanistan, says a lot about comparing GDP might against fighting prowess and tenacity.

Even success in Iraq is questionable, despite George W. Bush gloating declaration of 'Mission Accomplished'. In later years he was reported to have admitted that he was too impatient to make that declaration, knowing that 20 years down the road Iraq has 'democracy' tainted by a broken dream for its citizens. The USA only succeeded in taking control of Iraq's oil, using that as a bargaining chip to control Iraq, with oil revenues under the jurisdiction of the USA.

Anonymous