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... At the U.S. Army's annual convention here this week, an exhibitor banner greeted attendees: "Welcome to the Unfair Fight."
At booths touting everything from laser weapons to attack drones, the idea that defense companies are selling is that, in any contest with the U.S. military, opponents will not only lose but also be sapped of their will to fight on.
In the current war against Iran, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has spoken of "crushing" the regime "in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force. We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated." He was echoing nearly verbatim President Donald Trump's promises of a quick victory from early March.
On Thursday, news came that the administration is considering using the "Mother of all bombs," or "MOAB" in Pentagon parlance. It's the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal, and such a strike would allow the Republican administration to declare a "definitive victory," if not actually achieve it, in an unpopular conflict that has driven up gas prices ahead of next month's midterm elections.
But the kind of military rout that leaves the vanquished prostrate in salted fields doesn't happen anymore, and it is thinking along these lines, analysts add, that leads politicians to start wars which, like with Iran, drag on far longer than the immense resources of the U.S. armed forces might suggest.
If military superiority alone could end wars, then Afghanistan and Iraq would have been relatively easy American wins. Instead, many modern acts of aggression have devolved into long-running conflicts, notes Stephen Biddle, professor of international affairs at Columbia University and former strategic adviser to retired Gen. David Petraeus. General Petraeus commanded U.S. forces in Iraq and later served as CIA director.
The best use of military power in modern times is to convince adversaries that it is time to come to the negotiating table, argues Dr. Biddle, who recently co-authored a Foreign Affairs article about the "myth" of military victory.
"No war can end without an offer the enemy can accept, no matter how powerful one's armed forces, or how one-sided the fighting," he argued. ...
