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What's more apparent is that the goals of the war in Afghanistan kept changing and became increasingly ill defined. Which is comical in like the cosmic sense, s
by unlinked_dll 7y ago
What's more apparent is that the goals of the war in Afghanistan kept changing and became increasingly ill defined. Which is comical in like the cosmic sense, since American military doctrine has always held that the most important part of military strategy is to have a well defined, primary objective. As well, our greatest political thinkers like Kissinger have repeated ad nauseam that military force is a political tool to achieve political goals.
The irony is that Afghanistan is the biggest proof by example of our own foreign policy doctrine, by way of ignoring it entirely.
- gerikson 7y agoThe same could be said about Vietnam, which makes the situation in Afghanistan all the more depressing.
- whatshisface 7y agoI guess "political goals" meant "getting elected" and "pleasing lobbyists."
- philwelch 7y agoThis was one of the major conclusions of James Mattis’ recently-published memoir. The civilian government is in charge of the military, but when they choose to deploy the military, it’s their job—not the military’s—to define the objective. They haven’t done a good job of that lately.
- harry8 7y ago"our greatest political thinkers like Kissinger" You lost me. There are gulfs of differing understanding that are just hard to cross and I just can't see across that one. War criminal. Can you see back? As weird from either side, I'm sure.
- unlinked_dll 7y ago"Great" as in "prolific and influential" not as in "good." Kissinger engineered our foreign policy for three decades, either directly, through mentorship, or through his writing and teaching. His voice is a powerful one, and if you are interested in contemporary geopolitics you should read his books and listen to his speeches. World Order is a fantastic text. You don't have to agree with him.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]