Re:Sweden brings back military conscription
by icambron on Thursday March 02, 2017 @01:08PM
(#13776528)
Agreed that the goal is to not get invaded. That's why a country that has been recently invaded by two different countries is a poor example of someone for whom deterrence worked. Perhaps the threat of a war of attrition is an effective way to do this in general, but supporting that argument requires identifying countries for whom it worked, not a country for whom it failed spectacularly.
Re:Sweden brings back military conscription
by mikeash on Thursday March 02, 2017 @01:59PM
(#13777073)
Afghanistan succeeded in getting the Soviets out in the end. With the US they made the mistake of badly provoking a powerful nation. It may not be the best example, but it works.
Obviously this didn't work for Afghanistan, but their example can help it work for others.
Edit: if you become part of a larger war then it can also be advantageous to make the occupation painful for the enemy when it happens. The more you hurt them, the easier and faster your allies will win. Consider Norway in the Second World War: they had no hope of overthrowing the German occupation themselves, but the resistance still contributed significantly to its eventual end.