Modern War

When are the politicians going to figure out there is no such thing as winning and losing in modern war? You cannot achieve victory in war anymore. In other words, there is no marker, no indication that the enemy has been defeated. All you can do is set objectives and when objectives are achieved, withdraw. To call that winning is a perversion of the word. Inversely, to fail to meet every objective by 100% before withdrawing resources is not losing.

The only way you can lose a war is by failing to set SMART objectives. In other words, by your own actions, not those of your enemy. Most of the time you won't even have a clear cut enemy.

Maybe the politicians understand this but think the voting public doesn't want to hear it? Or maybe even think they are too ignorant to understand? Not likely - most politicians are the lowest common denominator.

Bush and other war supporters need to take off their black and white goggles. They need to stop intrepreting the calls for troop withdrawals as conceding defeat. Both sides should push the issue to reflect reality. A new government is in place and it appears to be on the right track. Both pro-war and anti-war groups can now rally around mission accomplished, let's go home. Bushites should spin the call for withrawal into their camp - make it a victory call.