Seventy years ago, America (and allies) had beaten Nazi Germany and were battering Imperial Japan – after three and half years of war.

Forty years ago, America pulled out of Vietnam. After 11 years of war. Today, we’re still fighting – and not winning – a War Against Terrorism. After 13 years of war.

Why the difference?

Recently, American intelligence found what may be ISIS headquarters in Syria. But, despite our precision bombs and missiles, we’re not attacking, “out of fear that the attacks will accidentally kill civilians. Killing such innocents could hand the militants a major propaganda coup.”

For certain Republican warhawk politicians, the answer is simple: Bombs away! Send in more troops! Kill the bad guys!

But in the Middle East, like in Vietnam, the bad guys live among the good guys. And sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.

In Germany and Japan, we just killed everybody – military and civilians, the guilty and the helpless bystanders alike. It was total warfare: level entire nations and everybody who lived there. Whatever it took to force unconditional surrender.

Now we ask our military to somehow separate out the enemy from the innocent, and just kill the bad guys.

The result, instead of total victory in less than four years, is that there’s no end in sight after 13 years.