Most Pointless War in American History

[BakerMikeRomeo]

Iain, we will bury you.   

Y'know, that saying just doesn't work unless you post a pic of yourself banging your shoe on your desk.

~BakerMike

[Antibubba]

I don't know if it counts as a war, but the invasion of Grenada is as pointless as it gets.

[MechAg94]

No one lost the War of 1812, and no one won the War of 1812.

The US incursions into Canada were repulsed with HEAVY losses. The American burning of York is largely cited as the reason the British burned Washington, DC.

While the American stand at Ft. McHenry was certainly memorable, it did absolutely nothing to stop the British from essentially exercising free reign along the mid Atlantic coast.

For much of the war US war ships were blockaded in port by the British Navy.


The British didn't really even consider themselves to be fighting a war against the United States. It was, to them, a minor annoyance in the scheme of things then happening in Europe.

Even had the United States abjectly lost the War of 1812, Britain had absolutely no interest at that time in attempting to retake the colonies. It was a favored plan of a very small minority of Parliament, but it had no support among either the general population, the majority of the government, or the crown.

The United States wouldn't have gone away.

I hadn't looked at this topic in a little while, but I have to disagree with Mike.  The British did lose the War of 1812.  Not on the battlefield or between war fleets though.  They lost it due to US commerce raiders and others with letters of marque tearing up the British commercial fleets.  The British whaling fleet alone was nearly wiped out completely.  The British went to the peace table because their income went to zero.  The Battle of New Orleans just put icing on the cake and gave Americans a reason to beat their chest.  That was the exception to the rest of the ground war.

Regarding this entire argument:  What makes a war pointless?  IMO, just because a war is easy, doesn't make it pointless.  The consequences of losing or the results to history do that.  The consequences to the US losing that war would have been bad.  The British did burn Washington.  I have heard that the only reason they didn't do more was due to some freak weather.  It has been a while since I read about that.

[roo_ster]

I gave two criteria in the first post.  You may not agree with them, but I tossed them out there as a frame for any further posters to build upon.

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I think some posters suffer from, "The Best 100 Songs Ever" bias*.  Meaning, events that occur most recently are given more weight than events that occurred in the past.

* Every one of those exercises is front-loaded with pop tunes that came out in the last year or two. 

[Joe Demko]

The current war in Iraq.  The Vietnam war.  The Spanish American war.  The invasion of Grenada.  I'm particularly fond of pointless wars that were justified in advance by lies.

[mtnbkr]

Wasn't the Grenada action taken to evacuate some American students or something along those lines? 

Chris

[MechAg94]

Okay, I forgot about the original criteria. 

To me, Iraq is up in the air.  Won't know for 10 or 20 years for sure how it will be seen.

Vietnam might have been a useful war.  It definitely became pointless when we gave up and pulled out.  Similar to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

I think the Spanish-American War had some serious results.  The US was seen as a world power and the Spanish pretty much dropped out as a world power. 

The War of 1812 basically showed that we could keep the British from retaking the US.  Not sure if that end result is enough.  It wasn't pointless to me. 

[K Frame]

"The British went to the peace table because their income went to zero."

You're joking, right?

Yes, American privateers captured a significant number of English merchantmen.

But, just how much of an effect did that really have?

In the grand scheme of things, virtually no real effect on the British.

Their merchant fleet was simply enormous, and most of it was untouched by American privateers. There were simply too many English merchant vessles and too few American privateers. As well, many of the ships that were taken were smaller coastal trade ships,

In counterpoint, the Royal Navy blockade of the American coast, hurt American commerce FAR more than American privateers hurt British trade.

After 1813 American sea trade virtually ceased in most ports of any significance.

At best, this aspect of the war can also be seen as more of a push than as an American victory.

Yes, American privateers captured cargos of significant worth, but that was more than offset by the losses in foreign trade.

[thebaldguy]

Vietnam and Iraq are modern wars that seem pretty pointless. My mother, who grew up under German occupation in Slovenia/Yugoslavia, predicted that Iraq would be unwinnable when it started. She said the same thing about Vietnam. 

Getting involved in a civil war as an invader is not a good idea.

[Andrew]

My vote would have to go to the War On Drugs. Actually, any government program that starts with "War On" is pretty pointless. Thanks, LBJ, for this "War On" thing; it's really served us well. ;-)

Kidding aside, Grenada was amazingly foolish. Somalia wasn't really high on my Proud To Be American list of activities, either...

A.

[macadore]

The U.S. Civil War. Every other nation in history got rid of slavery without declaring war on itself.  Of course, slavery was a secondary issue. It was really about money and power.  All wars are.

[MechAg94]

Why do you think Grenada was foolish?  I would think it would be so small and quick it wouldn't deserve mention on this thread. 

[MechAg94]

At best, this aspect of the war can also be seen as more of a push than as an American victory.

Yes, American privateers captured cargos of significant worth, but that was more than offset by the losses in foreign trade.

I wasn't really thinking about balance of trade or offsetting losses.  Just the idea that it was a push means the US did very well to me.  The British Empire was the superpower of the time. 

[RevDisk]

Oy, tough call.  On pure weirdness: The Banana Wars, the USMC's contribution to United Fruit (now Chiquita) ranks pretty high.  Seriously, I'd really love to hear a rational explaination for the Marine Corps and the CIA's endless wars/coups on behalf of Chiquita.  Any Marines here wanna give it a try? 

From the standpoint of stupidity amoung the generals, WWI or Vietnam would be a toss up.  WWI, I think.  Vietnam was not nearly as large nor bloody.  But the same brand of stupidity rings true amoung the brass of that era as well.  I hear-by announce Disk's Law:  When your generals are commanding from palaces, you've already lost the war.  Disk's Second Law: And you deserve to lose it.

[Matthew Carberry]

Oy, tough call.  On pure weirdness: The Banana Wars, the USMC's contribution to United Fruit (now Chiquita) ranks pretty high.  Seriously, I'd really love to hear a rational explaination for the Marine Corps and the CIA's endless wars/coups on behalf of Chiquita.  Any Marines here wanna give it a try? 

Um, because they were ordered to by Nat'l. Command Authority. 

Well, that and United Fruit's seductive "All The Bananas You Can Eat / We Support The Troops" campaign. 

[K Frame]

At best, this aspect of the war can also be seen as more of a push than as an American victory.

Yes, American privateers captured cargos of significant worth, but that was more than offset by the losses in foreign trade.

I wasn't really thinking about balance of trade or offsetting losses.  Just the idea that it was a push means the US did very well to me.  The British Empire was the superpower of the time. 

I don't disagree with that.

But take a look at exactly why the United States went to war in 1812, and exactly what it gained in the Treaty of Ghent.

The disparity between the two positions is pretty dramatic, and the overall effect on the national economically was pretty harsh.

There are victories, moral victories, and phyrric victories.

If one wants to claim a US victory in the War of 1812, one really has to consider that it was a phyrric victory, at best.

[yesitsloaded]

I'm going to go with Operation Eagle Claw as it accomplished nothing.