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Originally Posted by Agamemnon
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).
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.
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You missed my point, I probably shouldn't have made a half post like I did.
I wasn't comparing Germany/Japan 45 to Iraq directly, I was using it as an example where the the allies committed Terror acts against a civilian population and was able to parlay that into winning the war - and as such convert them into a Liberal Democracy - not a terror/police state.
Of course I understand they are different situations, but the same principles apply, you make your enemy not want to continue the fight because the risks far outweigh the benefits in their eyes. From our perspective right now, it seems like these insurgents are fighting a hopeless battle, but probably they have a completely different view of things.