I’d argue that Iran is fundamentally different from every other war the US has waged since WW2 because it’s the first time the US decided to directly take on an opponent that can match them technologically. What happened here is that technology has advanced past the point where US military doctrine makes sense. It simply doesn’t account for stuff like cheap drones, or IR based AA systems which Iran has. Iran also has access to Russian and Chinese satellite data and advanced missiles that US is unable to intercept. On top of that, Iran is fighting on their home turf while the US has a logistics nightmare of ferrying weapons, troops, and other supplies across the ocean.
And what makes this war different is the fact that the US was actually visibly defeated in head to head combat. It’s not like Vietnam or Afghanistan where they razed the country to the ground and abused these people for years on end until they got bored and left. This time around, Iran was able to respond decisively with their own weapons and destroy US based, aircraft, it was able to track down and attack US troops hiding in hotels across the Gulf states. This has simply never happened before.
Vietnam is probably a good war to compare to Iran. I’d argue they did defeat the US, and their anti-air was a huge part of that. US lost thousands of aircraft in that war, and something similar with Iran would end with like results.
The difference is that the US completely dominated Vietnam in terms of technology and firepower. They razed the whole country to the ground, and poisoned much of the land there. People are still born with birth defects today thanks to the atrocities the US committed against Vietnam. The US was defeated in the end, but it came at a huge cost for the Vietnamese.
The key difference is that Iran has the technology to hit the US in the rear. Iran can attack bases, airfields, radars, and so on. The US has no safe staging area against Iran. So, I don’t think the type of war the US ran against Vietnam is even possible here.
On top of that, Iran has the US by the balls economically because they control traffic through Hormuz. Trump already blurted out how they only have 4 weeks of oil left.
I’d argue that Iran is fundamentally different from every other war the US has waged since WW2 because it’s the first time the US decided to directly take on an opponent that can match them technologically. What happened here is that technology has advanced past the point where US military doctrine makes sense. It simply doesn’t account for stuff like cheap drones, or IR based AA systems which Iran has. Iran also has access to Russian and Chinese satellite data and advanced missiles that US is unable to intercept. On top of that, Iran is fighting on their home turf while the US has a logistics nightmare of ferrying weapons, troops, and other supplies across the ocean.
And what makes this war different is the fact that the US was actually visibly defeated in head to head combat. It’s not like Vietnam or Afghanistan where they razed the country to the ground and abused these people for years on end until they got bored and left. This time around, Iran was able to respond decisively with their own weapons and destroy US based, aircraft, it was able to track down and attack US troops hiding in hotels across the Gulf states. This has simply never happened before.
Vietnam is probably a good war to compare to Iran. I’d argue they did defeat the US, and their anti-air was a huge part of that. US lost thousands of aircraft in that war, and something similar with Iran would end with like results.
The difference is that the US completely dominated Vietnam in terms of technology and firepower. They razed the whole country to the ground, and poisoned much of the land there. People are still born with birth defects today thanks to the atrocities the US committed against Vietnam. The US was defeated in the end, but it came at a huge cost for the Vietnamese.
The key difference is that Iran has the technology to hit the US in the rear. Iran can attack bases, airfields, radars, and so on. The US has no safe staging area against Iran. So, I don’t think the type of war the US ran against Vietnam is even possible here.
On top of that, Iran has the US by the balls economically because they control traffic through Hormuz. Trump already blurted out how they only have 4 weeks of oil left.
Great summary of Iran’s retaliation!