At first, all went well: forces under Kato Kiyomasa and Konishi Yukinaga -- who together commanded some 150,000 men -- swiftly overwhelmed the Korean military at southern points in Busan and Tadaejin and then pushed north to Sangju.
Unfortunately for Hideyoshi's ambitious scheme, Korean admiral Yi Soon Shin's tactical brilliance -- which enabled him to engineer stunning victories with his profoundly out gunned navy -- cut the Japanese off from their sea-based resupply routes. Also, after a leisurely delay, the Ming court's decision to join the war and contain Hideyoshi's offensive on Korean soil added to Japan's woes.
By 1593, although still in possession of powerful ground and naval forces capable of destructive mischief, Hideyoshi had clearly lost his war. Yi Soon Shin and Ming Admiral Li Rusong were routinely smashing any Japanese naval vessels foolish enough to challenge them and Korean General Gwon Yul's forces were relentlessly driving Japanese ground units back to the southern coast.
After some to'ing and fro'ing, the Japanese retreated to home.
A few years passed; Hideyohsi, having learned nothing, ordered another invasion in 1597. This one came to grief even more quickly than the first. Korean and Chinese forces were at full readiness and knew all of their enemy's tricks. The costly invasions left Hideyoshi broken and his family line deposed. Into the breach stepped Tokugawa Ieyasu, ready to remake Japan in his image.
....
In 2003, to secure the United States' position as global hegemon (and perhaps, his place in world history) President G.W. Bush, in cooperation with the United States Congress, the government of Great Britain, and several militarily less significant states, launched a full scale invasion of Iraq. His plan was simple and audacious: the Iraqi state would be smashed; in its place a government friendly to the U.S. (and, some have argued, Israel) would be built. This Washington engineered government would serve as the template for a series of similarly recreated states across the Middle East.
On March 19th of 2003, ground forces -- primarily American and British -- numbering approximately 120,000 -- moved from their Kuwaiti staging areas into Iraq.
Although once considered a potentially formidable opponent (and, immediately prior to invasion, described to global publics as a planetary threat) the Iraqi state was unable to long resist the northward push of the U.S. 3rd Infantry, 1st Marine Expeditionary and UK 1 Armoured Division.
After little more than 3 weeks, Baghdad fell.
With the fall of the Iraqi capital (and the northernmost portion of the country ruled by Kurdish allies) the invasion appeared to be an astounding success.
Unfortunately for G.W. Bush's plans, the defeated state was one of the most thoroughly militarized on the planet, once fielding an army of approximately 400,000 men, many of whom were battle tested during the Iran-Iraq war and who retained their arms at home.
American political and tactical blunders -- along with a significant amount of anti-Arab racism leading to widespread human rights abuses -- inflamed the population. By the end of 2004, the occupation faced a skilled, determined and chillingly ruthless guerrilla movement, one of the most ferocious in history.
By 2004, although still in possession of powerful ground, air and naval forces capable of destructive mischief, Bush had clearly lost his war.
By the end of 2006, with a bloody Iraqi civil war raging even as the guerrilla conflict continued, millions of Americans -- including many of those who once approved of the Iraqi operation -- were calling for the swift withdrawal of U.S. forces.
Despite growing domestic discontent and the unattainable nature of the original goals (now obvious to all but the most ideologically blinded) President Bush, like Hideyoshi before him, ignored the evidence in favor of retreat and decided to escalate.
By early 2007, plans were being put into motion to deploy tens of thousands of additional U.S. forces to Iraq. When they arrive, they'll face an opponent who has over three years of combat experience fighting Americans, a degraded stable of sand and battle damaged equipment and a mission fewer and fewer believe in.
.d.
We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas.
Larry Fine
...................... http://monroelab.net/blog/