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| zinjanthropos |
 Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 9:16 am Post subject: Winning Wars |
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Forum Ph.D.
Joined: 11 Dec 2005
Posts: 862
Location: Driving in my car
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What does it take to win a war? Its been proven that superior weaponry and overwhelming numbers don't always result in victory.
I just caught some snippets on the History Channel about the Six Day War in 1967. I'm not Jewish or anti-Arab so I hope I'm not showing any favoritism.
If you're a military buff then you have to appreciate strategy and tactics when they work. Especially when the supposed superior side gets clobbered by an outnumbered and outgunned opponent.
The gathering of intelligence appeared to be the key to victory here. There are many ingredients for success on the battlefield. What is the biggest factor you consider crucial for military success? Luck is a factor but I don't think it is something you can plan on.
Care to contribute to the recipe for victory? My first choice in today's world would be establishing air superiority. I think it just frees up your force's movements from supplying to strategic deployment. |
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| Guest |
| Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 9:26 am Post subject: |
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I think you cannot define a single approach as being one that can always win a war, there are many.
Wars seem to have been won in all sorts of different ways, from sheer numbers to a sneak 'decapitation', disruption of communications leading to chaos, strangulation of supplies, siege, spies, infiltrators and probably a hundred other things, the key in my mind is finding which of these the enemy is most vulnerable to and being able to immediately exploit that information. In a shorter way "know your enemy" which is perhaps intelligence, this can enable you to avoid an onslaught for example. |
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| Hazz |
| Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 9:52 am Post subject: |
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It depends what you want to do.
I mean, people don't always fight wars for the same reasons. One side is usually trying to do something, and the other side is trying to stop them. Or one side is trying to get/do/capture etc. something and the other side is also trying to get/do/capture etc. the same thing, which can also lead to conflict.
If the purpose of the war is just to wipe your opponents out, then a nuke is pretty foolproof, but if you have a different strategy, like conquering/liberating/forcing the surrender of a country, then it will invariably get more complicated. |
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| Caligar |
| Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 9:53 am Post subject: |
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On the assumtion that your goal is to kill your opponent without rendering the land unuseable (as per nuclear weaponry), I'd say your best friend is comunication and attrition. Ive read of lots of battles where one side loses because poor communications caused one flank to overextend. Also, the reason it took so long for China to end all its civil wars was because militia groups would just back through the mountains launching small attacks, and subsequently retreating.
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| Nevyn |
| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 2:19 pm Post subject: |
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| leohopkins |
| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 11:49 am Post subject: |
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Forum Professor
Joined: 10 Dec 2006
Posts: 1124
Location: Croydon, England
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technology and weaponry clearly gives us a major advantage on the battlefield, mainly for the purpouses of gaining intelligence, speaking fo which - Do you know what "Marine" stands for ?
Muscles Are Required Intelligence Not Essential.
(sorry just thought id slip that one in 
Anyway.....back to my point. The training of each individual man is very important as is morale.
I was trained as an assault pioneer, which basically means i'm an explosives expert. We would wire up bridges / buildings packed full of explosives then blow the shit out of them. If I/we were given inadequate training and we didnt put enough explosives into the structure then we'd have a fully fubnctional structure and have just given the enemy warning of our immenant attack. If we used too much we could kill ourselves. So from my perspective its down to the training.
As for general rifle work, training is of course important but morale is important too. If you have men that are trained to fight but dont really want to, they will not put in the same amount of pasison into their work than those that really believe in themselves and their cause.
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The hand of time rested on the half-hour mark, and all along that old front line of the English there came a whistling and a crying. The men of the first wave climbed up the parapets, in tumult, darkness, and the presence of death, and having done with all pleasant things, advanced across No Man's Land to begin the Battle of the Somme. - Poet John Masefield.
www.leohopkins.com |
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| leohopkins |
| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 11:53 am Post subject: |
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Forum Professor
Joined: 10 Dec 2006
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Location: Croydon, England
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| Nevyn wrote: |
| I think luck plays a major part; whether your ballistics hit the tarket |
6 months training as a sniper says you're wrong !
_________________
The hand of time rested on the half-hour mark, and all along that old front line of the English there came a whistling and a crying. The men of the first wave climbed up the parapets, in tumult, darkness, and the presence of death, and having done with all pleasant things, advanced across No Man's Land to begin the Battle of the Somme. - Poet John Masefield.
www.leohopkins.com |
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| Lucifer |
| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 2:16 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 14 Jan 2006
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How to win a war:
- Know your enemy.
- Set a simple goal that can be achieved through military action and serves your purpose.
- Know your enemy.
- Ready your forces for the kind of action necessary to achieve the goal.
- Know your enemy.
- Develop plans that fit to a, your enemy, b, the goal, c, your force.
- Know your enemy.
- Develop post-war plans that fit to a, your enemy, b, the goal, c, your force.
- Know your enemy.
- Carry out your plans until you achieve the set goal and not an inch further.
- Know your enemy.
- All your plans must include what to do if defeat is inminent. Also what to do if they are handicapped by political action.
- Know your enemy.
Most wars are lost in the first two stages.
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“If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.” -Charles Darwin |
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| starlight |
| Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:17 am Post subject: |
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Forum Freshman
Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 91
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Step one-
each one must realise fighting is stupid
Step two-
must respect life
once a person can achieve these two steps, they can procede to step three.
Step three-
need vision. example using Iraq's natural resource to boost their technology and economy. Imagine greenhouses in the desert, owning sports cars, race track,..... Control their aggression by playing sports;They have good genes for it. They have not truly experience life.
LUXURY without greed is the key.War is pscychological! |
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