ISIS

[Benton]

(11-10-2016, 02:38 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Of course they fight for liberty (individual and collective). Our biggest issue is not establishing a long term presence after we win on the ground. Hell we still have Troops at permanent bases in italy, germany, and Japan and WWII was about 80 years ago.

The difference being we never won on the ground in the Middle East.

We had victories, we established temporary bases and we hung on to them until temporary objectives were complete. And they were largely irrelevant to opposition forces that are mobile in the sense that they don't observe the same border arrangement as military command. So we punch hard in one spot, they move to the next and we follow there and take another shot. And they move. There's no end to a war like that, as the forces we're combating — in most cases — aren't trying to permanently hold specific resources or locations. There's nothing to "win" for them outside of us leaving the area.

The bases we established post WWII were different. There wasn't continued aggression. We weren't still fighting Nazis in the 70s and 80s. Outside of an attack by a Libyan aligned group, the biggest threat to the naval base in Naples is the local economy. Even if we did have a friendly patch of desert (wasn't that supposed to be the reason we were so chummy with the Saudis?), establishing a significant base there wouldn't do much if the opposition just moves to another area as its stronghold.