Francis Marion was a South Carolina guerrilla leader who fought Britain during the American Revolution. The British forces were one of the most powerful armies in the world at the time, but they were never able to capture Marion. He knew the South Carolina swamps and back paths, because the region was his home. The British saw the colonies as their possession, not their home.

Francis Marion and other American leaders didn’t destroy the British empire. They freed their country from foreign rule and gave it the opportunity to create a better society. Marion himself was a slave owner. Almost a century passed before slavery was abolished.

Interestingly enough, after defeat in the war against the American colonials, Britain went on to become an even greater power. The British were successful militarily, but they also began social reforms to lift the working classes and the desperately poor of Britain out of poverty. More Britons had a stake in a prosperous country.

New military tactics constantly evolve against a militarily superior foe, as the Vietcong knew when they wore down American forces, as they had the French before them. They saw Americans as merely followers of the French imperialists.

In contrast, Americans succeeded in World War II. Their foe was obvious. European allies cherished similar ideals. True values were at stake.

Americans did more than militarily defeat the enemy. After World II they raised education levels and increased job opportunities. The country prospered, becoming a world leader, as much because of its vibrant opportunities as for its military prowess.

Defeating an enemy militarily only buys time. Then begins the hard job of building a society for all citizens.