Pentagon Expert Says Russians Would ‘Annihilate’ US Army on Battlefield

[LeGenD]

US can only fight handicapped.... Poor Afghanistan and Vietnam , Sanctioned Iraq, and yet cannot emerge as a Victor.

This is a terribly shortsighted assessment. US soundly defeated Germany and Japan during the era of World War II and continues to influence them till present.

However, every war have different dynamics. For example, Japan presented a different set of challenges to US then Germany during World War II.

VIETNAM:-

This war did not gain popularity in US by all accounts. President Lyndon Johnson committed a blunder by transforming Vietnam in to a major front against spread of forces of Communism without appropriate commitment of the American public towards this war effort. Contrary to the popular belief, US armed forces fought with courage and defeated opposing armed forces in major battles such as La Drang, Tet Offensive, and Hamburger Hill. However, US was not able to consolidate its gains on the ground due to natural barriers (i.e. Vietnamese landscape) and unreasonable restrictions imposed on US commanders to influence military operations at will. On top of aforementioned factors, racial tensions flared up in US during 1960s and 1970s and threatened the cohesion of US armed forces in Vietnam with trickle-down effect. Morale eventually crumbled and US lost the war.

An important lesson is that a war should not be fought without appropriate commitment from the public towards it. Otherwise, even the best army will not produce desired results.

IRAQ:-

Iraq became a powerful nation during 1988 - 1990 period. Details here: Iraq's Military Power: The German Connection | Middle East Research and Information Project

Unfortunately for Iraq, US had revolutionized its military might with state-of-the-art equipment and transition from conscript model to volunteer model and also changed its warfare tactics with adoption of Network Centric Warfare and Blitzkrieg doctrines in the aftermath of the disastrous Vietnam War. US military performance during Persian Gulf War (1991) stunned the entire world and reaffirmed the status of US as a superpower for years to come. Even China was spooked, learned valuable lessons from this conflict and began to modernize its military might as a consequence (modernization effort continues till present).

US have also redefined urban warfare tactics with Thunder Run in Baghdad (2003) and Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah (2004). Both of these battles are studied by all major powers in the world in current times to develop strategies for good performance in urban environments because modern (and future) battles are largely expected to take place in urban environments.

Now, brilliant military performance in battles in Iraq did not produce meaningful gains on the ground (long-term) because Iraqi populace is split on ethnic levels such as Shia, Sunni and Kurd. These factions do not get along and Shia-Sunni rifts (in particular) are centuries old. Not much can be done about this deeply rooted ethnic strife in the country unless brutal tactics are adopted to suppress all Iraqi factions but [insert geopolitical interests here].

Simply put, US is not sincere in addressing long-term issues of Iraq. Nobody is.

AFGHANISTAN:-

US diverted crucial resources towards war in Iraq. Enough said.

US was only interested in dismantling Al-Qaeda network in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Again, it is not fully committed to address long-term issues of Afghanistan. Opening another major front in a different part of the world while fighting a war in Afghanistan makes any strategic sense?

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US benefits from conflicts in different parts of the world from business angle as well. It earns billions of dollars in revenue by selling arms to various countries and organizations on yearly basis. Arms industry will continue to influence US foreign policy for years to come. Resolving conflicts is bad for business. Think about it.

Isn't the Russian military mainly a bunch of conscripts that only serve for a year?

Yes, Russian military follows conscript model.

Red Army (USSR) adopted volunteer model during World War II to rollback the gains of Germany in Russian territory. Afterwards, it shifted towards Conscript model to maintain its manpower due to shortage of human resource. This practice have continued till present.

 

[Suff Shikan]

This is a terribly shortsighted assessment. US soundly defeated Germany and Japan during the era of World War II and continues to influence them till present.

However, every war have different dynamics. For example, Japan presented a different set of challenges to US then Germany during World War II.

VIETNAM:-

This war did not gain popularity in US by all accounts. President Lyndon Johnson committed a blunder by transforming Vietnam in to a major front against spread of forces of Communism without appropriate commitment of the American public towards this war effort. Contrary to the popular belief, US armed forces fought with courage and defeated opposing armed forces in major battles such as La Drang, Tet Offensive, and Hamburger Hill. However, US was not able to consolidate its gains on the ground due to natural barriers (i.e. Vietnamese landscape) and unreasonable restrictions imposed on US commanders to influence military operations at will. On top of aforementioned factors, racial tensions flared up in US during 1960s and 1970s and threatened the cohesion of US armed forces in Vietnam with trickle-down effect. Morale eventually crumbled and US lost the war.

An important lesson is that a war should not be fought without appropriate commitment from the public towards it. Otherwise, even the best army will not produce desired results.

IRAQ:-

Iraq became a powerful nation during 1988 - 1990 period. Details here: Iraq's Military Power: The German Connection | Middle East Research and Information Project

Unfortunately for Iraq, US had revolutionized its military might with state-of-the-art equipment and transition from conscript model to volunteer model and also changed its warfare tactics with adoption of Network Centric Warfare and Blitzkrieg doctrines in the aftermath of the disastrous Vietnam War. US military performance during Persian Gulf War (1991) stunned the entire world and reaffirmed the status of US as a superpower for years to come. Even China was spooked, learned valuable lessons from this conflict and began to modernize its military might as a consequence (modernization effort continues till present).

US have also redefined urban warfare tactics with Thunder Run in Baghdad (2003) and Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah (2004). Both of these battles are studied by all major powers in the world in current times to develop strategies for good performance in urban environments because modern (and future) battles are largely expected to take place in urban environments.

Now, brilliant military performance in battles in Iraq did not produce meaningful gains on the ground (long-term) because Iraqi populace is split on ethnic levels such as Shia, Sunni and Kurd. These factions do not get along and Shia-Sunni rifts (in particular) are centuries old. Not much can be done about this deeply rooted ethnic strife in the country unless brutal tactics are adopted to suppress all Iraqi factions but [insert geopolitical interests here].

Simply put, US is not sincere in addressing long-term issues of Iraq. Nobody is.

AFGHANISTAN:-

US diverted crucial resources towards war in Iraq. Enough said.

US was only interested in dismantling Al-Qaeda network in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Again, it is not fully committed to address long-term issues of Afghanistan. Opening another major front in a different part of the world while fighting a war in Afghanistan makes any strategic sense?

----

US benefits from conflicts in different parts of the world from business angle as well. It earns billions of dollars in revenue by selling arms to various countries and organizations on yearly basis. Arms industry will continue to influence US foreign policy for years to come. Resolving conflicts is bad for business. Think about it.


Yes, Russian military follows conscript model.

Red Army (USSR) adopted volunteer model during World War II to rollback the gains of Germany in Russian territory. Afterwards, it shifted towards Conscript model to maintain its manpower due to shortage of human resource. This practice have continued till present.

American have not got the balls ... Russian defeated Germans. Russians outnumbered Germans.

 

[mkb95]

people use afghanistan,korean war as an example to prove weakness of usa seems to forget another superpower ussr was also defeated by bunch of mountain people with stingers aks even after using much larger force then usa.