False Goals

Posted 09:02 GMT
Mangala spoke:

You armchair generals! You set goals that true generals must meet, and then condemn them for having failed to match your expectations.

Success means catching Saddam. No, Saddam is irrelevant if the regime is changed.

Success means killing no civilians. No, war is killing, and civilians will inevitably die.

We are angering the Arab world. No, the Arab world will hate us in any case.

We have outrun our suppies. No, we are establishing a supplyline in good order.

We have too few soldiers. No, technology provides the punch for our present number to do the job.

We have failed to provide humanitarian aid. No, victory first, then succor.

I say to you, beware of such false goals, which drop from the lips like leaves from a sickly tree. Empires have goals large and small, long-range and close, local and universal, military and diplomatic, strategic and tactical, mandatory and optional.

In a world of complexity, goals change to meet circumstances, methods change to meet new goals. Such simple-minded analysis is unworthy.