[neutrino]

Very interesting post. But I cannot help wondering whether the US is not, to some extent, placing itself in the role of Carthage. We have a volunteer army that emphasizes quality over quantity. Afghanistan is an interesting case...very few troops are being used. Our view of casualties seems similar to that of Carthage.

And if we're Carthage, who might Rome be? China, perhaps?

[Liberty Tree Surgeon]

Nukes destroy the whole picture. A nuclear power can only be destroyed from within, since a direct attack would generate an overwhelming response, even if we had to use nukes on our own beaches to push off an invader. Since a few years after WWII, when we did not have enough of a stockpile to be a deterent, the US has not faced any but mutual destruction.

Now, India and Pakistan, having only limited nuclear options, could decide the loss of a percentage of their vast populations (India most of all) is a price worth paying to defeat a 50-year rival.

LTS

[Polybius]

Very interesting post. But I cannot help wondering whether the US is not, to some extent, placing itself in the role of Carthage. We have a volunteer army that emphasizes quality over quantity. Afghanistan is an interesting case...very few troops are being used. Our view of casualties seems similar to that of Carthage. And if we're Carthage, who might Rome be? China, perhaps?

The Carthaginian war strategy was sound. They had the best troops that money could buy up against newly recruited Roman Legions after the veteran Legions lay dead. They had mercenaries fighting overseas and Carthaginian reserves at home should the need arise that were powerful enough to defeat a mercenary mutiny after the First Punic War. The Carthaginians had a professional General and military genius while the Roman Republic, very distrustful of military tyrants, burdened the Roman Legions with inexperienced Generals by dividing military command between two separate Consuls that were both replaced every two years.

Only when Scipio Africanus was allowed to develop military experience in his long term campaign in far off Spain did Rome finally develop a General with the experience to defeat Hannibal.

By all logic, Carthage should have won the Second Punic War.

However, the Second Punic War was the Roman Republic's Finest Hour because, like Great Britain in 1940, the Roman Republic simply refused to accept defeat no matter how many military disasters befell it. A reading of the complete history of the Second Punic War leaves you in absolute awe of the tenacity of the Roman Republic in that war.

World War II America also had a similar fire in the belly.

The Achilles' Heel of 2005 America is the Democrat Party and the liberal news media that starts screaming that the sky is falling no matter how low casualties may be.

Graphic Representation of World War II U.S. Deaths:

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Graphic Representation of Iraqi War U.S. Deaths:

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World War II TIME Magazine Cover:

Iraq War TIME Magazine Cover: