Former CIA advisor Michael O'Hanlon draws a historical parallel: The US won independence in 1776 using asymmetric warfare against the British Empire—the same tactics that later defeated American forces in Vietnam and Afghanistan.
O'Hanlon notes that the American Revolution foreshadowed a pattern seen across the past century, where great powers (US, France, Russia) have repeatedly lost to insurgents employing guerrilla tactics in places like Algeria, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.
"250 years ago it was the other way around. The United States used those counter-punching tactics against the British," O'Hanlon said.
The irony: America's founding military strategy became the blueprint for its modern defeats.
O'Hanlon notes that the American Revolution foreshadowed a pattern seen across the past century, where great powers (US, France, Russia) have repeatedly lost to insurgents employing guerrilla tactics in places like Algeria, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.
"250 years ago it was the other way around. The United States used those counter-punching tactics against the British," O'Hanlon said.
The irony: America's founding military strategy became the blueprint for its modern defeats.