<![CDATA[Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war?]]>RE: https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/116160627758292678

Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? No. I think the polar opposite.

"Lethality" is not as useful for winning wars as coalition building. But even on the lethality point, the US military is less lethal than it was when it had people like this. It's just more violent and cruel now. Some people mistake that cruelty for lethality.

Competence matters. The ability to negotiate matters. If you have no ability to even fake empathy? Then you are constitutionally incapable of being a good negotiator. Because effective negotiating requires the ability to see the world through the other party's eyes.

No, this is not a glorification of war.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/b963f384-2859-4708-94b8-ec54785887d1/some-folks-have-the-mistaken-impression-that-i-think-the-us-military-can-just-beat-everyone-up-unilaterally-and-win-any-warRSS for NodeMon, 25 May 2026 15:19:27 GMTMon, 18 May 2026 14:58:55 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Tue, 19 May 2026 05:20:04 GMT]]>@Illudium_Q36 They'd have to know where Asia is for that to help. @Chasteen @mekkaokereke

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/bremner/statuses/116599554358364339https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/bremner/statuses/116599554358364339Tue, 19 May 2026 05:20:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Tue, 19 May 2026 04:18:07 GMT]]>@Illudium_Q36 @Chasteen @mekkaokereke Just for fun, I wish Pete Hegseth knew what a jezzail was.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.ca/ap/users/116213082989216869/statuses/116599310727655727https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.ca/ap/users/116213082989216869/statuses/116599310727655727Tue, 19 May 2026 04:18:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Tue, 19 May 2026 04:12:17 GMT]]>@Illudium_Q36 I seem to recall Trump not being much of a Rob Reiner fan. @Chasteen @mekkaokereke

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://brontosin.space/users/Thad/statuses/116599287787236582https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://brontosin.space/users/Thad/statuses/116599287787236582Tue, 19 May 2026 04:12:17 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Tue, 19 May 2026 04:02:09 GMT]]>@Illudium_Q36 @Chasteen @mekkaokereke this frame makes me uneasy: Vizzini was proved wrong while still laughing the end of that line...

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.uno/users/s_wilson/statuses/116599247983740525https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.uno/users/s_wilson/statuses/116599247983740525Tue, 19 May 2026 04:02:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Tue, 19 May 2026 03:37:22 GMT]]>@Illudium_Q36 @Chasteen @mekkaokereke this has been living rent free in my brain for a while now

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/laurencelawlor/statuses/116599150493287867https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/laurencelawlor/statuses/116599150493287867Tue, 19 May 2026 03:37:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Tue, 19 May 2026 02:04:03 GMT]]>@Chasteen @mekkaokereke

- if only more of our politicians went to the movies...

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://woof.group/users/Illudium_Q36/statuses/116598783551336712https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://woof.group/users/Illudium_Q36/statuses/116598783551336712Tue, 19 May 2026 02:04:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Tue, 19 May 2026 01:38:15 GMT]]>@RuthODay2 @Chasteen @mekkaokereke I'm not sure I'd call Granada an ass-kicking. That was incredibly embarrassing to watch from the outside. Intense Fremdscham in play there.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/ZDL/statuses/116598682111265327https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/ZDL/statuses/116598682111265327Tue, 19 May 2026 01:38:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Tue, 19 May 2026 01:22:15 GMT]]>@LeBonk @mekkaokereke Of course it's was, hence the reference. 🙂

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://beige.party/users/TheJen/statuses/116598619202429711https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://beige.party/users/TheJen/statuses/116598619202429711Tue, 19 May 2026 01:22:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Tue, 19 May 2026 01:19:40 GMT]]>@TheJen

@mekkaokereke honestly, since Sparta is something the fash like to romanticize (heh), i'm guessing actual Sparta was also more stupid than we think

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://wetdry.world/users/LeBonk/statuses/116598609063984096https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://wetdry.world/users/LeBonk/statuses/116598609063984096Tue, 19 May 2026 01:19:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Tue, 19 May 2026 00:35:48 GMT]]>@Chasteen

Ya, but you kicked as in Granada and Panama!

@mekkaokereke

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://chaosfem.tw/users/RuthODay2/statuses/116598436545740972https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://chaosfem.tw/users/RuthODay2/statuses/116598436545740972Tue, 19 May 2026 00:35:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Tue, 19 May 2026 00:14:42 GMT]]>@Chasteen @mekkaokereke war profiteers didn't lose

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.world/users/MJmusicinears/statuses/116598353605674616https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.world/users/MJmusicinears/statuses/116598353605674616Tue, 19 May 2026 00:14:42 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Mon, 18 May 2026 21:20:36 GMT]]>@mekkaokereke as a vet who fought in Afghanistan, our record is abyssmal. We lost in Vietnam, we lost in Afghanistan, we lost in Iraq and we are clearly losing in Iran. But at least we spent more than it would have cost to do free education and medicare for all.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/Chasteen/statuses/116597668986603203https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/Chasteen/statuses/116597668986603203Mon, 18 May 2026 21:20:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Mon, 18 May 2026 18:52:15 GMT]]>@mekkaokereke If all you can do is beat people up, you have to either be physically strong enough to beat up the entire world simultaneously or the entire world will get sick of your shit and beat you up simultaneously. I'm less sure the former is even possible with every blunder.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://todon.eu/ap/users/115601049471092408/statuses/116597085678850106https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://todon.eu/ap/users/115601049471092408/statuses/116597085678850106Mon, 18 May 2026 18:52:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Mon, 18 May 2026 17:53:15 GMT]]>@mekkaokereke It's Sparta, but really stupid.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://beige.party/users/TheJen/statuses/116596853649144726https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://beige.party/users/TheJen/statuses/116596853649144726Mon, 18 May 2026 17:53:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Mon, 18 May 2026 15:59:33 GMT]]>@mekkaokereke

Military alliances require trust and negotiated surrenders require the loser to either be desperate or else to believe the victor will honor their commitments.

The US has spent the last forty years, and especially this administration, betraying its alliances and breaking its commitments.

So any war we start, our former allies won't want to help and our opponents will see no benefit in surrendering. Iran won't surrender because they know - and they're *right* - that Trump will bomb them again as soon as the Epstein files are back in the news.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/users/firebreathingduck/statuses/116596406571163376https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/users/firebreathingduck/statuses/116596406571163376Mon, 18 May 2026 15:59:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Mon, 18 May 2026 15:32:00 GMT]]>@ohmu @mekkaokereke the military for decades has worked on actually reducing the amount of lethality it needs to achieve a policy outcome. We carpet bombed cities in WW2 to try and destroy single factories. Today we can put a single missile into a single room from hundreds of miles away.

Killing people has always been secondary to a policy objective, and we've known that since the dawn of time. The DoD's focus on lethality as an outcome is a regression.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.seattle.wa.us/users/andy/statuses/116596298233535424https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.seattle.wa.us/users/andy/statuses/116596298233535424Mon, 18 May 2026 15:32:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Mon, 18 May 2026 15:23:42 GMT]]>@mekkaokereke I went to an interesting lecture twenty years ago by General Rupert Smith, a senior commander in the British army in the 90s, on how warfare had changed from total war between nations (with uniforms and a front line) to war within nations, where the enemy is everywhere and nowhere and indistinguishable from sympathetic civilians, and just being good at shooting is no longer enough

He spoke about the theatre of war being like a dramatic theatre, with stagehands and actors and a goal of presenting a compelling narrative, to earn and build trust with the people whose country you've just deployed a tank division into

I suspect that kind of nuanced thinking may be lacking a bit now

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://beige.party/users/jackeric/statuses/116596265626056915https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://beige.party/users/jackeric/statuses/116596265626056915Mon, 18 May 2026 15:23:42 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Some folks have the mistaken impression that I think the US military can just beat everyone up unilaterally, and win any war? on Mon, 18 May 2026 15:18:38 GMT]]>@mekkaokereke
What I think is it sucks that folks like you and me suddenly are in the position of having to keep in consideration the "lethality" of the US military at all.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.seattle.wa.us/users/ohmu/statuses/116596245696875464https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.seattle.wa.us/users/ohmu/statuses/116596245696875464Mon, 18 May 2026 15:18:38 GMT