I was arguing with a history buff friend of mind who said how awesome the American military was and how it knew how to kick butt. I argued that in retrospect there's really not much to say about the American military.

If you just list them....
Revolutionary War
War of 1812
Mexican-American War
Civil War
Indian Wars
Spanish-American War
Filipinno Insurrection
World War I
World War II
Korean War
Vietnam War
Persian Gulf I
Afghanistan
Persian Gulf II

I explained that there really isn't much to talk about. We really haven't had too many GREAT victories, aside from 1 or 2. And even those, I can argued against being a big deal.

I don't know. I think it says something that our military is big and scary enough to keep us from getting into wars a lot of the time.

__________________
"Man lives in the sunlit world of that which he believes to be reality. But unseen by most is an underworld, a place that is just as real... but not as brightly lit... A DARK SIDE!"
-opening from Tales From the Darkside

hey you got a bunch of stuff missing from that list, starting with first war against muslim terrorist in north africa back in 1804. Grrr, kids nowadays forgettin history ...it's right in the Marine Hymn:

From the halls of Montezuma, To the shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country's battles in the air, on land and sea;
First to fight for right and freedom and to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title of United States Marine.

__________________
.




"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

The next post should be considered patriotic,and to be taken seriously:
I know were good.......Israel didn't lose a war yet(well if we had,there wouldn't Israel no more)..........48:Israel vs 7 Arab countries....Israel came victorius. 56:Israel beated Egypt. 67:Captured Golan,West bank,Gaza,and Sinai penisula,after beating 4 armies,including Saudi back up.
73:Surprise attack(By Egypt,Israel in a few days stopped arab advance,moved to attack,got 45 km from Damascus,and 101 km from Cairo.....Those are just some of the wars Israel wasw dragged to.....

About the US,it has some of the most advanced equipments in the world,and is spread all over the world.....Fough in numerousa wars,sometimes against an enemy weaker,sometimes against an equal enemy,and in your Independence you fought against a Force much stronger than yours,and you prevailed...........America's army can be considered a succes.

__________________
To be free people,in our own land,the land of Zion and Jeruaslem

How many wars have we actually LOST? Very few if any.

Even Korea was basically a draw.

What is our ratio of wins to losses and how does it compare with other nations? That is the measure of the American military. And yes, we end up looking pretty good.

__________________
My Political Blog (Most recent update Oct 3rd) - Which Flame Warrior are you?

The only conflicts we have "lost" (Vietnam for example) are because we deliberately pulled punches (not using nukes for example).

__________________
My Political Blog (Most recent update Oct 3rd) - Which Flame Warrior are you?

I mean yes, if you argue on the basis of the number of wins, then you're right. I can't argue with you there.

But, if you win almost all your wars against hugely inferior nations, there's really nothing to be especially proud of. As a Varsity track runner, I was never proud of beating Junior Varsity runners.

I hope you don't mind I am only going to comment on the wars I know much about. I can see your point overall, I would never call our military "dominating" but just strong.

In WWII I would say that would be our strongest showing, Korean War has always been downplayed IMO when it shouldn't, considering South Korea was invaded and they fought back from a small part of South Korea to end up regaining all of the land. (nothing major, but still definately downplayed)

Vietnam is of course self-explanatory, Gulf War I was another strong showing (though I don't think Iraq was ever "really strong") and Afghanistan/Gulf War II was never anything major considering both armies.

I would say that going from being attacked on our own homeland (pearl harbor) to practically surrounding Japan and winning overwelmingly was a major victory as well as I think the Gulf War was impressive. But yes our past military history, I think, has always been a little exaggerated.

__________________
http://www.politicalyard.com - Talk politics, site upcoming
http://www.charliepage.net - My blog site

"Old soldiers never die; they just fade away" - Douglas MacArthur

The fact that you are considering them "jr" says a lot about our society though. A track runner that practices and improves himself and/or uses better training methods is going to be better than a track runner who does not. Should we say the first track runner only won because his training methods and workout routines were better?

A lot of them wernt "jr". A lot of them have been around a lot longer than us. And we definitely did not have the advantage in the revolutionary war.

__________________
My Political Blog (Most recent update Oct 3rd) - Which Flame Warrior are you?

True, the better track runners do probably work longer and harder. But even so, such "very good" runners would never commend themselves on defeating 20 junior varsity runners. They would commend themselves on defeating superior runners and in races of which the odds were greatly against them. I simply feel that America, contrary to popular opinion, does not have that great of a military history. Though I would obviously not argue that America doesn't have the most powerful army in the world.