Iran could defeat the US just by not losing |
Iran could defeat the US just by not losing
In the classic clash between the mighty and the weak, the superior versus the inferior military power, history has not always favored the strong.
Whether David was lucky or good in felling the giant Goliath, the outcome of that duel has reverberated throughout history. For the U.S., since World War II, it has too often become a Goliath, humbled by a series of relatively tiny Davids.
While David won with a single shot to the head, modern-day Davids win by not losing. Vietnam and Afghanistan were two major examples. Iraq after 2003 is a third. In each case, the U.S. military won every battle. And, in each case, the U.S. lost at a huge cost of life and treasure to all concerned in the conflict.
The road to ruin in Vietnam began with the so-called “domino theory” and its corollary and causal factor — the monolithic Communist threat emanating from Moscow and Beijing. For those who may not recall or know, the notion goes back to the Eisenhower administration, when French Indochina was partitioned into northern and southern regions in 1954 after the disastrous French defeat at Dien Bien Phu. The idea was that if one country fell to communism in Southeast Asia, they would all collapse like a row of dominoes.
After President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, and Lyndon Johnson assumed duties as commander in chief in the Vietnam War, Johnson said that “If we don’t stop the commies at the Mekong, we will be fighting them on the........