War Failings: Clear and Attainable Objective

There’s a good article on MSNBC.com titled: Fundamental failures led to current Iraq crisis. My arguments against the war have been primarily based no the first point:

Lesson 1: Select an attainable objective
While the Administration tried to build a case against Saddam on the basis of weapons of mass destruction, a principal motivation, ironically, was to take a short-cut to peace in the Middle East. Troubled by the theocracy in Iran and by Muslim revolutionaries who have sworn to destroy all of the regimes in the region, the Bush administration tried to inoculate the Middle East with democracy.

The other points are excellent from a military point of view, but without an attainable objective, they would clearly be pointless. “Attainable” also has to be judged in the context of the available resources including political will. I think the actual objectives in Iraq fail these tests almost from start to finish.

When we fight for an unattainable objective, the only result is dead people. If we fight, but don’t provide the means to obtain the objectives, again, the only result is dead people. In other words, sound strategy is critical.