Which has been less successful: the War on Drugs, or the War on Terror?

CPT Aaron Kletzing — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 09:23:46 -0400

The US's War on Drugs has cost trillions of dollars. The War on Terror has also been very costly. Both have had debatable impacts compared to the goals they appeared to have. Which has been less successful, and why do you feel that way?

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 5 at 2017 9:30 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 09:30:37 -0400

We still have illegal drugs all over the place. It has been 16 years since we had a large scale terror attack.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 5 at 2017 9:33 AM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 09:33:13 -0400

CPT Aaron Kletzing I would go w/ the war on drugs being the less successful. The war on terror has a measurable result. While new terrorists do spring up, resources are limited & can be "headed off at the pass" by getting to potential recruits before they are swayed "to the dark side".
The war on drugs, however, does not have a very measurable result. New drugs are created every day. Hell, look at Meth - just throw together whatever you can & lets see if we can get high off of it. Or the drug continues to grow naturally. In order to fully effect a war on drugs, one would need to eradicate plants & the pharmaceutical companies.

Response by PFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 5 at 2017 9:33 AM

PFC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 09:33:35 -0400

War on Drugs no contest.

Response by PO1 Michael Fullmer made Sep 5 at 2017 9:43 AM

PO1 Michael Fullmer — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 09:43:40 -0400

Neither have been successful, however of the two, the war on terror has been the least.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 5 at 2017 9:46 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 09:46:06 -0400

Less successful? I'm almost inclined to say it's a tie.

Response by Sgt Wayne Wood made Sep 5 at 2017 10:00 AM

Sgt Wayne Wood — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 10:00:21 -0400

What about the War on Poverty?

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 5 at 2017 10:21 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 10:21:05 -0400

Both are similar to the war I waged on fire ants in my yard yesterday. It was fun watching them burn and I no doubt killed thousands upon thousands of them. But I in no way believe that the war is over. They will be back and we'll do this all over again. It will never end.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Sep 5 at 2017 10:23 AM

CPT Jack Durish — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 10:23:56 -0400

Both are abject failures suffering the same lack of sound strategy. It should be apparent by now that neither will be won by brute force or high tech gimmicks.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 5 at 2017 11:09 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 11:09:07 -0400

Prohibition of alcohol, anybody?

I definitely say the "War on Drugs". While I don't think one should be able to buy any drug they want from a store, the policies on how drug users are handled are completely backwards. Does the country really want to see these people succeed and break away from a self destructive life style? Being human, I have made many poor decisions growing up (I dare to say that I have made a few poor decisions as an adult, but they are growing further apart in time with experience). I thank god that the Army decided to give me a chance to prove I could do better. Thank god I was in the right place at the right time (waivers for everyone... yay!!!). I will also say that before I joined, one cop was VERY lenient toward me one night, and let me flush some remains of a plant that I had on person down the toilet. If he would have followed things by the book, I would have had another self inflicted stupid incident on my record, and probably would have never been able to join.

My hometown is a dead end. It is infested with drugs. That is a main part of why I wanted to join; to get away, learn a skill, and contribute to making the US of A a better place. People have ruined careers, have had jail time, and records that will haunt them for the rest of their lives because of drugs. Drugs are a show stopper in the military. I have seen quite a few flush their careers down the toilet for a stupid decision. Once those doors are shut that keep you from having a successful life, what is the incentive to quit drugs then? I'm not saying it can't be done (sorry for the double negative), but there are considerably less choices to a better path. To me, the war on drugs is a war on the people. It self perpetuates it's own war... people will turn back to drugs when that seems to be the answer when their positive choices become less and less viable. The use of drugs shouldn't be viewed as a criminal behavior, it should be viewed as a personal problem that should be medically treated.

I have never understood that why we all embrace freedom, but lock people up for a personal choice. As long as you don't physically harm others (don't drive under the influence, come to work under the influence, does not interfere you providing for the family, don't rob/ steal/ kill, etc.), I don't think the use of drugs should be illegal.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 5 at 2017 1:18 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 13:18:55 -0400

The war on drugs, because the failed strategy and execution of it has costs way more thousands of U.S. deaths and ruined lives than the war on terror.

Response by SGT Tony Clifford made Sep 5 at 2017 1:26 PM

SGT Tony Clifford — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 13:26:29 -0400

The war on drugs is a complete failure. It has only created a greater profit motive to break the law. Prohibition creates a very lucrative black market. The people who have no problem breaking the law, killing people and intimidating those who oppose them become extremely wealthy. If you make the supply side illegal but fail to eliminate a demand unsavory people will always flow in to make a profit. In the 20s we turned a two bit thug like Al Capone into an underworld tycoon. Alcohol prohibition is the perfect example as to why the war on drugs fails. The demand for the illicit substance remains, but the supply is now limited. The worst part is that in a black market there is no peaceful way to settle a trade dispute, so violence erupts.

Terrorism is different. It is something that can never truly be defeated, but for a liberal democracy or constitutional republic to exist, extremists must be fought. Should we fight it outside the US? Maybe, but it's safe to say that we are better at stopping it stateside than abroad. While we may fail sometimes success is really difficult to judge. If you're not trying to induce panick, you're not going to broadcast how many attacks you've stopped.

Response by 2LT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 6 at 2017 9:16 AM

2LT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 09:16:28 -0400

To me, it's hard to tell if either of these efforts are creating the outcomes we are seaking. I believe it's because both issues aren't ones that can be solved through our traditional sense of eradicating the bad guys and stabilizing the area. See, what is stable? What is normal behavior for a region or group? Hard metric to measure success buy. Sure we can kill bad guys and take drugs off the street, but with out building groups resiliency and structure through co-design efforts of local and outside forces, I don't think we will see changes of real significance

Response by PO2 Skip Kirkwood made Sep 6 at 2017 12:13 PM

PO2 Skip Kirkwood — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 12:13:26 -0400

The war on drugs has been far less successful. Not everybody thinks of "drugs" as a common enemy. Nobody likes terrorists!

Response by LTC Dennis Rears made Nov 4 at 2017 10:59 PM

LTC Dennis Rears — Sat, 04 Nov 2017 22:59:50 -0400

War on drugs. Drugs are cheaper, more potent, and more available.

Response by PVT Raymond Lopez made Nov 5 at 2017 10:11 AM

PVT Raymond Lopez — Sun, 05 Nov 2017 10:11:44 -0500

THE WAR ON DRUGS!!!!!!!!!!!

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 5 at 2017 11:03 AM

COL Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 05 Nov 2017 11:03:14 -0500

Considering that drugs have killed more Americans than terrorism...I'd have to say the WoD.

Response by SSgt Harvey "Skip" Porter made Nov 16 at 2017 6:04 PM

SSgt Harvey "Skip" Porter — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 18:04:08 -0500

When it's all said and done both of them has cost us dearly in both lives and Trillions. My question is either of them winnable? No one seems to have that answer. One thing for sure when others have a different ideology we can't bomb them into thinking or seeing things the way we do. Let's say I think Vietnam should have been a lesson for that. My Heart goes out to all those that served and too many never came back home alive. Many have suffered illnesses every since. Then they have to come back and fight our own government for benefits. I must say something is wrong with that picture. Use some of that freaking wasted money to take care our Veterans!! That's what I care about. If them sorry Politicians going to send us off to endless wars. They sure as heck should be willing to appropriate the funds to take care of us when and if we return. Unfortunately that's to much like right and then after returning we start the fight over again. It makes me very ANGRY!!!