Major American Wars-Losses, Wins, Ties, and What Qualifies.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

My title is a reference to America's "score record" if you will.  Seven wins, two loses, two ties, one undicided.

Now, that adds up to 12 Major American Wars. Now, the 12 I'm referenceing are:

American Revolution (Win)
War of 1812 (Tie)
Mexican War (Win)
American Civil War (Win)
Spanish-American War (Win)
World War One (Win)
World War Two (Win)
Korean War (Tie)
Veitnam War (Loss)
Gulf War (Win)
Afghan War (Ongoing)
Iraq War (Loss)


Now, do the Gulf War and Spanish Amerrican War last too short to qualify as a major war? Did any of the various conflicts and bombings in the last 30 years count as wars?  Did I missinterpret a war?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

While the Iraq War was over-expensive, I don't see it as one that can be put in the loss column.  If Iraq was a loss, then so was the War of 1812.  The US failed to achieve any of its war aims, had its capitol burned and looted, and nearly triggered an internal civil war.  If the British hadn't tried and failed in the winter of 1814-5 to take New Orleans, it's entirely possible that we'd have seen the breakup of the Union

[LastVoter]

How is Iraq War a loss and War of 1812 a tie?

[dead0man]

....and hell, Vietnam was more of a forfeit than an out and out loss.

(yes, I know a forfeit is a loss)

[Gustaf]

40 seconds in! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MLYRVvzp_8&feature=related

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

The Spanish-American War, while short, was possibly the most important in American history after the Revolution, the Civil War, and World War II. It showed that the United States could beat a European power one-on-one (Britain only used a fraction of her military in the War of 1812, with all hands on Napoleon), and fully established the United States as a great power due to having overseas colonies (the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico)

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Did any of the various conflicts and bombings in the last 30 years count as wars?

Well, maybe a case could be made for this:

War on Terror (Pakistan, Yemen, etc): Ongoing

[Donerail]

Would any of the Indian Wars be large enough to count? Could those all be lumped together?

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

Did any of the various conflicts and bombings in the last 30 years count as wars?

Well, maybe a case could be made for this:

War on Terror (Pakistan, Yemen, etc): Ongoing

We could merge iraq and Afghanistan into that.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Does it matter?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Would any of the Indian Wars be large enough to count? Could those all be lumped together?

The Seminole Wars were probably the most significant of the Indian Wars not associated with some other conflict post-Independence.