Debates
20 Jan 06
20 Jan 06
I have just realized that the two big guerrilla wars which defeated superpowers in the modern world - Vietnam vs. the USA and Afghanistan vs. the USSR - required that the guerrillas have the support of the other superpower. Does anyone want to defend the claim that guerrillas do not need superpower support to defeat another superpower?
20 Jan 06
Originally posted by AThousandYoungNah, makes sense. You need unlimited capital and hardware, not to mention personnel and training.
I have just realized that the two big guerrilla wars which defeated superpowers in the modern world - Vietnam vs. the USA and Afghanistan vs. the USSR - required that the guerrillas have the support of the other superpower. Does anyone want to defend the claim that guerrillas do not need superpower support to defeat another superpower?
20 Jan 06
Originally posted by AThousandYoungGuerrilla movements don't defeat superpowers; they avoid defeat until the superpower eventually realizes that the cost of their occupying the guerillas' country is not worth the price. Many local insurgencies have "defeated" occupying powers in this way without any substantial support from the outside i.e. the French in Morocco being an example. Of course, if you rigidly define "superpower" to mean only the US and the Soviets there isn't a historical precedent, but there soon will be (i.e. Iraq).
I have just realized that the two big guerrilla wars which defeated superpowers in the modern world - Vietnam vs. the USA and Afghanistan vs. the USSR - required that the guerrillas have the support of the other superpower. Does anyone want to defend the claim that guerrillas do not need superpower support to defeat another superpower?
21 Jan 06
It depends - technically-speaking, "superpower" wouldn't cover the league of nations that ultimately defeated Paraguay in the War of the Triple Alliance, but when you look at their strength versus that of Paraguay even before the war, there isn't an awful lot of difference...and you can't help but draw the conclusion that autonomous guerrilla warfare has enormously untapped possibilities.
21 Jan 06
Originally posted by AThousandYoungThe Yugoslav resistience during WWII nearly removed the Germans...on their own.
I have just realized that the two big guerrilla wars which defeated superpowers in the modern world - Vietnam vs. the USA and Afghanistan vs. the USSR - required that the guerrillas have the support of the other superpower. Does anyone want to defend the claim that guerrillas do not need superpower support to defeat another superpower?
