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If you’re an American, then you might be getting damn tired of losing wars. I know I am. And you may be asking yourself, “Why does this keep happening?” It’s an intriguing and disheartening puzzle: Although the United States has been far-and-away the world’s most powerful country for many decades, with a military whose budget and raw capabilities are unmatched, it has compiled a mostly losing record in recent history. This includes the current war with Iran, which has yet to achieve any of the Trump administration’s stated objectives and is likely to end with Iran in a significantly stronger strategic position.

Look at the list. The Korean War was a draw (more about that later). Vietnam was a clear defeat, as were the 2003 Iraq War and the “forever war” in Afghanistan. The 1999 Kosovo War was hardly a triumph, with Serbia getting better terms at the end of the war than it had been offered before the fighting began. Unless you include the occupation of the tiny island nation of Grenada in 1983 (a gross mismatch that hardly counts), then the United States’ only clear victory across these many decades was the 1991 Gulf War. Yes, I know: The United States and its allies did “win” the Cold War, an exception that proves the rule because it was a “war” that never involved a direct clash of arms with the Soviet Union.

If you’re an American, then you might be getting damn tired of losing wars. I know I am. And you may be asking yourself, “Why does this keep happening?” It’s an intriguing and disheartening puzzle: Although the United States has been far-and-away the world’s most powerful country for many decades, with a military whose budget and raw capabilities are unmatched, it has compiled a mostly losing record in recent history. This includes the current war with Iran, which has yet to achieve any of the Trump administration’s stated objectives and is likely to end with Iran in a significantly stronger strategic position.

Look at the list. The Korean War was a draw (more about that later). Vietnam was a clear defeat, as were the 2003 Iraq War and the “forever war” in Afghanistan. The 1999 Kosovo War was hardly a triumph, with Serbia getting better terms at the end of the war than it had been offered before the fighting began. Unless you include the occupation of the tiny island nation of Grenada in 1983 (a gross mismatch that hardly counts), then the United States’ only clear victory across these many decades was the 1991 Gulf War. Yes, I know: The United States and its allies did “win” the Cold........

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