SFC Private RallyPoint Member 12229 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div> 2013-11-26T21:57:00-05:00 SFC Private RallyPoint Member 12229

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2013-11-26T21:57:00-05:00 2013-11-26T21:57:00-05:00 SFC Christopher Walker, MAOM, DSL 12230

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>You know we are. <br>

2013-11-26T21:58:46-05:00 2013-11-26T21:58:46-05:00 LTC Private RallyPoint Member 12237

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>How do you define "winning"? You can't kill your way out of this war. For everyone you kill you create two more.<br /><br />We have killed a lot of people but I don't think we are any better off today than we were on September the 12th 2001, in fact quite the opposite.

2013-11-26T22:09:30-05:00 2013-11-26T22:09:30-05:00 CW3(P) Private RallyPoint Member 12252

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>We will never will the war on terror. There is someone willing to stand up when we take someone out. It is an endless cycle.

2013-11-26T22:20:40-05:00 2013-11-26T22:20:40-05:00 SGM Matthew Quick 12271

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Are you referring to the 'Overseas Contingency Operations'?<br><br>Back in 2009, the Defense Department's office of security review noted that "this administration prefers to avoid using the term 'Long War' or 'Global War on Terror' [GWOT.]  Please use 'Overseas Contingency Operation.' "<br>

2013-11-26T22:44:00-05:00 2013-11-26T22:44:00-05:00 CW2 Joseph Evans 12277

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>No. You can't win a war against an idea or a concept. The war on drugs, the war on poverty, the war against communism, the war on terror...<br>Every time we launch a National movement based on war as a metaphor, we set ourselves up to lose. Ideas as an enemy is never a good thing, because we stand, as a nation, staring across a battlefield with the idea that no quarter shall be given, that there is no compromise.<br>We have painted freedom fighters as terrorists, not because they are terrorists, but because they fight for a freedom that is at odds with our western ideals. It is why we lost in Vietnam, we wanted to westernize the region, they wanted self-determination. Self-determination, they same thing we fought for in the Revolutionary War and again in the Civil War, yet we choose to impose our will on others at this late date.<br>We also run around shooting one "terrorist" and anger his family at what was unjustly done. Malala Yousafzai said it best "drone attacks are fueling terrorism."<br>We have gotten ourselves into several bad situations, many of which are based on ego or greed, and we will not be able to solve them if we continue to use the same thought process that got us into those situations.<br>

2013-11-26T22:58:28-05:00 2013-11-26T22:58:28-05:00 CMC Robert Young 12722

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>"Wars of Blood and Faith" by Ralph Peters outlines why the "take territory and hold it followed by nation building" theory of WWII is so out of step with our current situation. We will never kill enough people to quell an ideology. This is not about national conquest, but about theology and culture. The best we can ever hope to do is to be one step ahead of the next problem; mitigate the second and third order effects, and fight the enemy someplace beside America.

2013-11-27T19:38:05-05:00 2013-11-27T19:38:05-05:00 SFC James Baber 12933

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div><p>No, As Chief Evans mentioned we have been losing the fight to many forever, prime example Nixon coined the phrase "War on Drugs" in 1971/72 and it has been dragging on for over 40 years, partly because the powers that be want it to, it generates the need for the money and the agencies involved to be there. If they really wanted the influx of drugs coming to stop it could be done, we took away the Caribbean pipeline in the mod-1980s only to have it shift to the Mexican border, so it proves we can stop it in one location if we wanted to. The same goes with the war on terrorism if we really wanted it to stop to an extent we could make ourselves just as safe as we were and untouchable prior to 9/11, we were that way for generations up until the 1990s and the laws preventing us from protecting ourselves and our homeland, if we restrict who and what can come into the country and actually enforce it without being accused or profiling and suppression then we could do it. But as long as there are lawyers and ambulance chaser looking for that $$ it will always be an issue, we are the standard bearer supposedly for the free and other parts of the world, but let us do exactly as everyone else in the world does and we are crucified. </p><p><br></p><p>Prime example, what our Soldiers did at Abu Gharab, I don't condone what they did, but they shouldn't have been vilified or put in jail either, look at what the insurgents were doing with US citizens and other hostages online, but no complaint came from the Muslim society that raised hole hell for what the guards did to the detainees, yes they were wrong to humiliate them, but they were all still alive, tell that to the families of the people who had their heads cut off during internet broadcasts. We are one of probably less than 5 countries that actually abides by the Geneva convention, but we are vilified by our own left-wing media and radicals when anything minor occurs. </p><p><br></p><p>So, back to the original point, no we are not winning and most likely never will as long as we have to be restricted on protecting our right to survive in the way we know and are able to do, just as every other human in the world can and do, but aren't vilified as we are when we do.</p>

2013-11-28T03:44:24-05:00 2013-11-28T03:44:24-05:00 1SG Steven Stankovich 12968

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div><p>I don't think that there can even be a winning scenario because you lack the quantifiable measure of a "win" in a war.  There will never be a formal surrender, terms of withdrawal, etc.  </p><p> </p><p>What you can do is continue to keep "The War on Terror" on everyone's mind.  Our Nation has became vigilant in areas of security where we never prior to 9/11.  We have instituted checks and organizations that counter terrorism on many levels...both abroad and at home.  Those are steps in the right direction.  I think it is important to ensure that people stay alert and observant of their surroundings.  </p><p> </p><p>While we may never be able to win this war, we can continue to do the things necessary to ensure that we maintain our way of life.</p>

2013-11-28T09:11:21-05:00 2013-11-28T09:11:21-05:00 CCMSgt Private RallyPoint Member 13037

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I think we've made great strides in rooting out some key terrorist leaders and disrupting much of their network... but we'll be fighting this idealoogy for at least as long as the time it's been around (so pretty much forever)!  <div><br></div><div>Though in the future, I think our footprint will become a lot smaller (meaning, not literally occupying countries to do it... at least I hope)! </div><div><br></div><div>Though I'm glad I got to fight the bulk of it alongside you all... that means less fighting for my son who'll be an Air Force Lieutenant in a couple of years. But that's what it's all about right? Us fighting so hopefully our children won't have to!</div>

2013-11-28T13:27:46-05:00 2013-11-28T13:27:46-05:00 SSG Private RallyPoint Member 99368

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>No. This is a non-tangible war. In order to effectively win a war you must be able to erradicate the enemy and overtake whatever you were seeking in a prize. This war is a concept war. We are tasked at winning against a concept which is in the minds of others. In order to win a war based on a concept held in the minds of others, we would have to perform genocide to those who maintain the ideas of terror. As we do not condone genocide, we are at an automatic loss.

2014-04-11T14:42:03-04:00 2014-04-11T14:42:03-04:00 SGT Steve Oakes 192982

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>No, I think we are defeating organizations, only to have the survivors form new groups even worse than the ones we take out.

2014-08-03T00:33:49-04:00 2014-08-03T00:33:49-04:00 2013-11-26T21:57:00-05:00