WWII & 5 Great American Military Victories

The American military is clearly the
most dominant force on the planet–maybe the most lethal ever.

By Robert
Farley

Armed with
nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, submarines, a fleet of drones and a massive
army and air force, it would win in almost any circumstance–at least on paper.
But that has not always been the case, and sometimes not even being the best in
the world can crush a committed foe who will stop at nothing to win in combat.

So what were some of
America’s biggest military victories? What ranks as the worst losses? Below,
Dr. Robert Farley, in a series of two articles combined into one post for your
reading pleasure, gives us his picks.

***

Nations often linger
on their military defeats as long as, or longer than, they do on their
successes. The Battle of Kosovo remains the key event of the Serbian story, and
devastating military defeats adorn the national narratives of France, Russia
and the American South. What are the biggest disasters in American military
history, and what effect have they had on the United States?

—-This Story Was
Originally Published in The National Interest—-

In this article, I
concentrate on specific operational and strategic decisions, leaving aside
broader, grand-strategic judgments that may have led the United States into
ill-considered conflicts. The United States may well have erred politically in
engaging in the War of 1812, World War I [3], the Vietnam War [4] and Operation Iraqi
Freedom, but here I consider how specific failures worsened America’s military
and strategic position.