According to former United States general Ben Hodges, the withdrawal of US troops from Europe is only a matter of time. In an interview with SonntagsBlick, he advises Switzerland to prepare for war.

      • Devanismyname@lemmy.ca
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        17 hours ago

        Counter insurgency is tough to overcome. As you kill insurgents, more insurgents pop up because the initially killed insurgents were their family and friends. The only way to do it is to rule with an iron fist.

        • scoobford@lemmy.zip
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          1 hour ago

          I disagree that there is any way to do it. Ultimately, people don’t want you there and are unhappy enough that they’re willing to die rather than cooperate. It is simply too expensive in terms of man hours, lives, and money to keep a population under occupation like that. At the very least, you need to do as the colonial powers did and exploit a local division to deputize some of the locals to rule on your behalf.

          • Devanismyname@lemmy.ca
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            48 minutes ago

            The Mongolians did it. Rome did it. History is littered with countless examples of one nation overcoming another.

      • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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        16 hours ago

        Desert Shield/Storm and Panama were overwhelmingly sucessful military operations because they had clear, achievable objectives. George HW Bush was a bastard, but his team could execute a military mission.

        • FreakinSteve@lemmy.world
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          16 hours ago

          Also, the Iranian army didnt fight back because they didnt want to. Some even asked, “what took you so long?..”

      • keyhoh@lemm.ee
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        21 hours ago

        So not a war since things have gotten so computer. Comforting.

          • keyhoh@lemm.ee
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            4 hours ago

            Not a typo. I’m making fun of Trump’s comment when he got into the Tesla last week.

            Also funny to see that I’m being downvoted for making an accurate comment. Poor Americans are so thin skinned.