Gulf Wars

Much of the hand wringing over Afghanistan centers around the purpose for being there. It was not a war. In war you pull out all the stops and you go to win otherwise don't go. This was an action to prevent another attack on America. The US went after al qaeda and with the help of Afghan fighters defeated the group responsible for the attack on the twin towers. After that the US stayed on to help the Afghan people to defeat the Taliban the group that sponsored al qaeda. This turned into a civil war that lasted up to today where the Afghan people were defeated by the Taliban. This has been the pattern since WW 2. In Korea it was not a war and was called a police action. In Viet Nam the same thing happened. When Iraq invaded Kuwait they asked for help. With the support of large bipartisan majorities, the U.S. Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. In simple terms the US officially declared war, the first time since WW2. The US, along with a dozen allies, amassed an army of 700,000 troupes along the border and within a matter of weeks the Iraqis were driven out of Kuwait and the famous Republican Guard was decimated . At that point the United Nations decreed that the coalition should withdraw and not go after Saddam. The forces forgot they were in a war and changed course to a police action. Thus began a game of tit for tat which lasted for 8 years at which time the US turned Iraq over to a coalition government. This led to the second Gulf war which ended with the capture of Saddam. During these years the military was restricted and not allowed to use the force needed to defeat the enemy. One of the most brazen examples was how the military was prevented from destroying trucks carrying Iraqi oil up to Turkey for sale. The reason given was that they would kill the truck drivers.