Talk:List of wars involving Italy

Latest comment: 5 years ago by TrendBronco in topic MNF Lebanon

Iraq 2003-06

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One of the enemies of the coalition effort in Iraq was the 'Islamic State', known at that time as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and then as the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI) - then ISIS, or ISIL, and now just IS apparently. How can this be called a victory when coalition countries are still fighting them? In fact, how can it be a victory when ISIS reached the height of their power after the coalition left? TrendBronco (talk) 00:54, 20 November 2017 (UTC)Reply

MNF Lebanon

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I don't see how the 1982 MNF intervention in Lebanon can be considered anything but a defeat, even if it was the US that made the decision to withdraw. The Lebanese government requested western assistance, and the US specifically announced that bolstering the Lebanese state was the main objective, not just supervising the withdrawal of the PLO.[1] Instead, the Lebanese Army colapsed into sectarian militias as soon as the MNF was withdrawn.[2] There is no question that the decision to withdraw was made because of the horrific car bombings of the US Embassy and US Marine barracks. Reagan essentially cut and run. I have made the same argument on the List of US Wars page. TrendBronco (talk) 23:54, 19 November 2017 (UTC)Reply

Italy in no way accomplished objectives that the rest of the MNF had not. The objective was always to save the Lebanese state and all members of the MNF failed to do this. No amount of subsequent peacekeeping can outweigh this defeat. TrendBronco (talk) 19:29, 6 January 2019 (UTC)Reply

References

  1. ^ "Statement by Deputy Press Secretary Larry Speakes". September 23, 1982.
  2. ^ "The Collapse of Lebanon's Army: U.S. Said to Ignore Factionalism". March 11, 1984.