Most of them are/were regional conflicts that didn't actually majorly threaten the US directly. But we do have a quite a few wins for us, even if they don't stay as long term wins. Not even counting all the UN conflicts I didn't list, which would add to both the wins and losses when we were involved directly. But here are some of the "wins"
- Korean War, while ongoing, can be considered a win since we stopped North Korea from taking control of South Korea.
A bit of a stretch, but fair enough.
- We supported the winning side in the 1958 Lebanon crisis.
As far as I read about the region and when I travelled there, you were invited by the legitimate government and three other parties (the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, Kataeb) so that was not the winning side but it became so and Camille Chamoun still had to resign.
- We accomplished our objective in the Operation Dragon Rouge and the Democratic Republic of Congo and Belgium won against Simba rebellion as whole.
Took a year still but ok.
- We successfully supported the Loyalist faction in the Dominican Civil War.
Again, this is more of a repeat of Lebanon (at best), the guy who was elected after the Caribbean Hitler got what he deserved, angered the magnates and army sections of the island nation and got accused of being a commie because of social reforms. Then they got invaded by Lyndon and the OAS forces, and there's no indication that Bosch wouldn't have been pro-American like Balaguer.
- Had another smaller conflict in the Korean DMZ which basically meant things stayed the same still.
Paul Bunyan?
- Successfully invaded Grenada in 1983.
An island the size of Italy most populous city, and you had help from the inside.
- Had the Tanker War against Iran while they were fighting Iraq, which ended in a UN ceasefire, and we didn't really do much but attack a bunch of military installations they used to attack our shipping and then also one civilian airliner by apparent mistake.
I mean that would be like me claiming victory after a boxing match where my opponent had one hand tied and got beat up before it. You can claim it was a PR diplomatic victory though, that is fair to say.
- Invaded Panama and installed a government friendly to our interests from between December 20, 1989 - January 31, 1990
I mean, you put him there, with likely previous knowledge from the CIA that he was unreliable ally at best (which also likely ignored such unreliability) and was mini-Erdogan to a degree.
- Gulf War was a victory even if later stuff basically messed everything up and then enforced a no fly zone over Iraq pretty successfully depleting Iraqi air defense assets. Then the Iraq war was when things start getting to be "inconclusive"
Yeah, barely, with also a lot of propaganda to justify it.
- Invaded Haiti to reinstall a president after a coup ousted him.
Didn't Bush Jr ousted that same president? And that president also claimed that the US ousted him?
- Then we did have numerous conflicts with ISIS which basically ended with some nation's or another's government retaking territory that was occupied by ISIS, so however you want to measure that.
I measure it as US wasted resources, so that it could potentially have a puppet, which turned out to be a pyrrhic victory because the only one who won were the Israelis (who are 20km from Damascus) and the Black Turks in Ankara, who both thought that with Assad gone, everything would be hunky dory, which, turns out, it is not, because you still have Syrians (regardless of ethnicity and faith) that won't return, despite the initial spike of returning refugees, and turns out the Turcophile rebels are not exactly unified and will likely also backstab the Turks like in 1916 if given the opportunity. Could be also a proxy or direct war between Israel and Turkey, which will likely result in US choosing the first rather than second (and for once that would be a good choice).
It'd be nice if we could work on both the supply and the demand sides of the drug/cartel problem but realistically I expect we're going to try force on the supply side for now. This vaguely hopeful part of me that has been speaking up of late hopes and improving economy and moderating culture might help with the demand side as drugs are an escape. Cynical Gen X me says I should know better.
Right now it you can try to do "Hey, like money ? Want to enjoy it? Then stop raping, killing and so on otherwise you will have to buy a nicely finished coffin!" because the dead can't enjoy money.
Yes. Because it's Bukele. An El Salvadorian. It isn't a foreigner coming in to do it.
I'd also point out that Bukele did not just massacre the gangs in some glorious battle. He tossed them in jail. So which jail are you planning on having the cartel tossed in? Are we going to take Mexicans in Mexico and drag them up to the United States and...then what? Throw them in jail without a trial? Have a trial and really get the courts clogged up?
Like, this is just another symptom of:
@LordsFire Largo is largely right about this. It was a local who did it and he didn't went Rambo or Jason Voorhes on them, though unlike Largo I don't think the locals would have cared if the someone who did that job was local, but as long they achieved the gangs BEING GONE (REGARDLESS IF ALIVE OR NOT) nobody cared. Thing is, Buyekele ACHIEVED THAT . Salvadorians were hostages in their own country by degenerates and they were and still are perfectly ok with the gangs being gone one way, as long that is achieved and remains so.
No one hates illegals more than legal immigrants.
No one hates indecent, unethical and immoral people more than decent, ethical and moral people.