How Wars Are Won and Lost: Vulnerability and Military Power (Praeger Security International)

326 Pages·2011·0.97 MB·English

by  John A. Gentry

How Wars Are
Won and Lost
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How Wars Are
Won and Lost
Vulnerability and Military Power
JOHN A. GENTRY
Praeger Security International
Copyright 2012 by John A. Gentry
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, me-
chanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief
quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gentry, John A., 1949–
How wars are won and lost : vulnerability and military power / John A. Gentry.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-313-39582-6 (hbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-313-39583-3 (ebook)
1. Strategy. 2. Strategic culture—United States. 3. Military art and
science—United States. 4. History, Military—United States—20th century.
5. History, Military—United States—21st century.
I. Title. II. Title: Vulnerability and military power.
U162.G348 2012
355.02—dc23 2011030647
ISBN: 978-0-313-39582-6
EISBN: 978-0-313-39583-3
16 15 14 13 12 1 2 3 4 5
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This book is printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
A ll statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not re-
flect the official positions or views of the CIA or any other U.S. Government agency. Nothing
in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying U.S. Government authentica-
tion of information or Agency endorsement of the author’s views. This material has been
reviewed by the CIA to prevent the disclosure of classified information.
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1 Introduction 1
2 The Philippine War of 1899–1902 23
3 The Allied Bomber Offensive against Germany (1943–1945) 43
4 The United States in Vietnam (1961–1975) 68
5 NATO ’s War against Yugoslavia (1999) 110
6 The U.S. War in Iraq (2003–2011) 138
7 The U.S. War in Afghanistan (2001–?) 174
8 Summary and Conclusions 195
Notes 235
Bibliography 283
Index 307
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Acknowledgments
T his book, less chapter 7 on Afghanistan, began as a PhD dissertation
submitted to the political science department at the George Washington
University in 2008. Chapter 5 draws appreciably from my article “Norms
and Military Power: NATO’s War Against Yugoslavia,” which was pub-
lished in S ecurity Studies 15, no. 2 (April–June 2006), portions of which
are adapted and reprinted by permission of the publisher (Taylor & Fran-
cis Ltd, http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals). Susan Gentry, Joseph Gor-
don, Farhana Qazi, Chad Rector, Elizabeth Saunders, Ronald Spector, Erik
Voeten, and especially Mike Mochizuki, provided helpful suggestions on
drafts of this book.