America at War: A Record of Unparalleled Failure

[Jason Harvestdancer]

They already do, my friend. The rest of the world hates your arrogant, sadistic, gun-slinging, murderous, self-centred, and egotistical guts. With a vengeance. But since Americans are not in touch with reality they keep dreaming that they are the envy of the world.

Oh, you think that I'm actually suggesting that the US do all of that.  You think that I'm suggesting that as a good thing.  I suggest you re-read what I wrote, my friend, especially the parts about how doing any of that would destroy anything that is still good about the US.

[Mandingo]

No, he is suggesting what you describe up there in your post is already the reality, therefore saying or being sarcastsic about how that would destroy anything good about US is pretty ridiculous.

^This!

Only I'm not suggesting. I'm stating (the obvious).

[Jason Harvestdancer]

Well that's just plain idiotic.  The US has fallen quite short of what I wrote.

[DickRill]

The B-2 bomber, for all its touted capabilities, is a hugely expensive weapon that sees little real use.

Which is just as well, because those 'touted capabilities', notably its stealth capabilities, are a farce IRL. Modern, high-frequency radars cannot detect B2s. But older, low-frequency radars can! That's how they shot down that B2 and F-117 in Kosovo in 1999! Stealth does not work! So all the billions spent on socalled stealthy F-117s, B2s, and F-22s were a humongous waste for US taxpayers. And a humongous profit for the owners, the shareholders of the 'defense' industries.

[DickRill]

But... but guys... France! LOL Those Frenchies, amirite, always losing wars and running and stuff? Rite? RITE?!?!?

Wrong!
Forgot how Napoleon won a number of wars/campaigns for 15 years?

[Hijiri Byakuren]

Wrong!
Forgot how Napoleon won a number of wars/campaigns for 15 years?

Napoleon was born to an Italian family in Corsica. He doesn't count. :P

[aileron]

First the USA outcompeted the USSR with the arms race, so that the USSR went bankrupt.

That's pure Western mythology.  The USSR's economy was lackluster but on sound footing before the revolution. 

[aileron]

Which is just as well, because those 'touted capabilities', notably its stealth capabilities, are a farce IRL. Modern, high-frequency radars cannot detect B2s. But older, low-frequency radars can! That's how they shot down that B2 and F-117 in Kosovo in 1999! Stealth does not work! So all the billions spent on socalled stealthy F-117s, B2s, and F-22s were a humongous waste for US taxpayers. And a humongous profit for the owners, the shareholders of the 'defense' industries.

No B2 has ever been shot down.  The Serbians were able to detect the F-117 as it opened its bomb bay doors.  The Air Force knows well that the radar signature goes way up at that point, but that happens for only a few seconds.  Normally the radar wouldn't be trained on exactly the right area except for some sloppy NATO communications that the Serbs intercepted let them know where and when to target. 

To claim that low observable technology "doesn't work" is missing the point.  These planes are not invisible like Wonder Woman's.  They're intended to make the planes harder to find, and nobody ever expected anything more than "harder to find."  In the case of air dominance fighters finding your opponent before he finds you is an enormous advantage.  For bombers, the shorter the window of detection the more survivable your mission profile. 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

That's pure Western mythology.  The USSR's economy was lackluster but on sound footing before the revolution. 

True, possibly, but the USSR did indeed know that it couldn't compete with the US in all areas of arms production and deployment.

[DickRill]

That's pure Western mythology.  The USSR's economy was lackluster but on sound footing before the revolution.

Complete BS! The USSR had been spending over 25% of GNP annually on military budgets for 30 years. Nobody â€" including the US â€" can keep that up. So the USSR had been knee-deep in debt for over a decade already. Gorbachov inherited a totally bankrupt country. Whatever was left of the USSR's economy collapsed in 1989/1990. Russians in the street were dirt-poor and didn't take it any longer. A very violent revolution was about to break out. Enter Yeltsin on his tank, and the rest is history.

[DickRill]

No B2 has ever been shot down.

Except the Spirit of Missouri at a cost of 1,8 billion bucks.
After that it's not surprising that they have been careful not to send any B2s into harm's way anymore.

[DunkleSeele]

Except the Spirit of Missouri at a cost of 1,8 billion bucks.
After that it's not surprising that they have been careful not to send any B2s into harm's way anymore.

That's just an unconfirmed rumour. If the Serbs really did shoot down the B2, why isn't part of its wreckage exhibited at the Belgrade aviation museum (located on the grounds of the Belgrade airport) just like they do with the F-117 they effectively shot down?

[Jason Harvestdancer]

The stealth technology does have issues.  First of all assume it does make the plane invisible to radar - that means you can't see it unless you are actually just plain looking at it.  Second, making it invisible to radar doesn't work as well as some would think, because one of the things it does is create a dark spot that contrasts with the normal background radiation.  The radar cannot see it, but if you invert the image a human can say "aha, there is stealth technology there."  Third, it only works at certain frequencies anyway.

[aileron]

Complete BS! The USSR had been spending over 25% of GNP annually on military budgets for 30 years.

I like it how you call complete BS and then get everything wrong in your reply.  Soviet defense spending was 11% of GDP when measured in US dollars and 8% when measured in rubles (source declassified CIA revised estimates published in 2007).

Nobody â€" including the US â€" can keep that up. So the USSR had been knee-deep in debt for over a decade already.

Soviet budget deficits were stable at 2% of GDP.  That's a very manageable deficit to GDP ratio.  The US is currently at 3% for example.

Gorbachov inherited a totally bankrupt country.

LOL... The Soviet Union was at the height of its power when Gorby took over.  Their pre-revolution debt load was about 50% of their GDP.  Ours is now about 100%.  The Soviet GDP was at a record high.  Real incomes were rising.  The economy was growing at a paltry 1-2% a year, but it was growing.  The debt was lower as a percentage of GDP than most Western nations today.

Whatever was left of the USSR's economy collapsed in 1989/1990. Russians in the street were dirt-poor and didn't take it any longer. A very violent revolution was about to break out. Enter Yeltsin on his tank, and the rest is history.

It seems you like the Reganaut mythology, but that's not what happened.  What happened was this:  Gorby and his cohorts refused to apply the glue that had held together the Soviet empire since the days of Lenin.  The Soviet empire was held together by brute force, intimidation, and a police state.  Gorby and his cohorts wanted a more moral Soviet Union and were stunned how quickly the rotten mess collapsed when they refused to use force and intimidation and relaxed the police state.  Once the political collapse happened the economy was wrecked because it depended on structures that simply no longer existed. 

[CloneKai]

So, rules of engagement are not taken into consideration in a "total war". Meaning illegal weapons or methods are used like child soldiers, mines or cluster bombs. So why were these rules made, if no one was expected to follow them?
so example of this could be something like Israel using phosphorous bombs in operation castlead and america using some kind of gas in Vietnam, which caused some serious health problems.