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Originally Posted by CaramonLS
The way you win a war is to crush the spirits of your enemy.
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Well, for sure, though it depends on what 'winning' means to you. I'm sure the US could set up secret hit squads in Iraq to seek out and destroy any/all insurgents, sort of like a 'secret police'. That would be the best, easiest way, convert a bunch of the locals into a paramilitary cadre, funded by the US, whose sole purpose is to assasinate insurgents.
Of course, then you have an undemocratic police-state. Not exactly what the US wanted to get out of the equation (or so they say).
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There were many unspeakable attrocties committed against Japanese and German (Japanese in particular) in WW2, yet they transititioned to a democratic state.
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Yeah, but it was a different time, different circumstances. Japan was united as a nation, and lost as a nation. The people had a (fairly) unified political voice and homogenous society, same with Germany. Iraq is a polyglot of cultures, religions, and races. I don't think comparisons between '45 Japan and '06 Iraq are really accurate, imo.