How Do You Know You've Won A War?

How do you know when you've won a war? Is it when one side has expended all of its resources and the other has managed to outlast it? Nope; Germany had no resources left to defend itself, but Japan could have gone on for a lot longer. When WW-2 was over it was over, it didn't flare up again years later (thought WW-2 may well be considered a flare-up of the never-ended WW-1).

Korea sort of faded back into a ready-state of nothingness. North Korea never had anything anyway but they never quit. That war goes on.

Viet Nam dam sure ended. Everyone has seen the pictures of the helicopter leaving the Embassy roof. We lost but we were as powerful after our loss as before the war began. Explain that one.

Reagan's wars? That asswipe could swat a fly and claim he had defanged a dragon. Star wars? Look at North Korea today and tell me what Reagan's Star Wars bullshit got us

And so back to square one. How on earth do you know when you've won or last a war?

Fox News?

Condi?

Bill O'Reilly?

Rumsfeld?

the front page of the NYT?

When WW-2 was over it was over, it didn't flare up again years later (thought WW-2 may well be considered a flare-up of the never-ended WW-1).

WWII was definitely a continuation of WWI, with a generational lapse. Consider also that the current political layout of the Middle East was largely decided at Versailles in 1919.

the peace treaty was never signed........so 50 years later we can begin again!

country is dead except the one you have your foot on his neck and you pull the trigger... then its over. and then you can go on to the next little country

that it was seeking out when the war began. When that happens, and the losing side decides that the cost of carrying on the war is greater than the cost of accepting defeat.

And Japan was ready to surrender before we dropped the bomb. They had told the Russians so.

WTC followed up with the "great satan" chasing it's tail around like a mad rat pissing away all of it's resources getting no place, and leaving him be.

In Iraq, they're still fighting us. Victory, in this case, means killing everybody who is competent enough to fire an AK-47 at US troops or make homemade bombs for US troops.

while standing on a flight deck (for the first time in his life).

Sure, we may have taken a few casulaties here and there since then, but that's just the endgame. :sarcasm:

not until then will the 'war of the people' be won

:shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug:

The "winner" doesn't get to decide when the war is over.
Instead, it's the loser because it is only when they finally
decide to stop fighting that the war will finally end.

Tesha

When does surrender occur? When the opponent decides the previous and potential losses outweigh the potential for meaningful victory.
Kind of like our situation in Iraq.