[nstg8a]

The Last time the us military was let fully off the leash had pretty severe consequences for the people of Nagasaki and Hiroshima...

their politicians won’t allow that sort of thing to happen again.
The voting public won’t allow that to happen again.
Every war since then their military has had strict rules of engagement about limiting civilian casualties.
Korea and Vietnam showed how they were basically fighting with one hand behind their backs thanks to political control.
The eye watering civilian casualty count in the Middle East would pale in comparison if their military was told to just go in and get the job done.

They haven’t ‘won a war’ since then not because they can’t, it’s because the cost is too high.

Even the ‘shock and awe’ tactics of the Iraqi war was largely a hint of their capabilities, rather than their actual capabilities.