No. As yet, they both are nothing compared to others we have fought.
To be fair, the Germans did a great job in places like Belleau Wood and the Argonne.
And again at Normandy, the Netherlands and the Battle of the Bulge.
The Japanese fought with a remarkable savagery in the Pacific.
Vietnam, they were deviously violent. Traps, ambushes, torture. Just being there was a horrific event.
Why, even the Mexicans did so well the Marine Corps changed their uniform to remember the carnage they ravaged.
But to compare them to the terrorist is an insult to actual warfighters. Terrorist, a catchall word for all those militants who are as deadly to their own people as they ever were to us, is by comparison a neverending nuisance rather than a true threat. To make the point more clear, I think it was Dan Holliday who said that we have been fighting them with both hands behind our backs because of global pressure to "fight fair".
And the Russians, well time will tell. They have proven an admirable savagery in Stalingrad and an unmatched brutality in Berlin. So far though, we have never truly known what the world would look like had the two of us been really pushed to the brink.
So as yet, no, the terrorists and the Russians are not the fiercest enemies USA has ever known. In truth, our fiercest enemy has never been someone from the outside. The simple truth for us is that no one in our history has ever challenged us with a ferocity such that we have unleashed upon ourselves.
0 Comments