From UPI:
WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- To most Americans, with deference to climate change and Iran, the major national security threat to the nation emanates from al-Qaida. Yet strategic incompetence on our part may be a greater danger. This characteristic is not new.
During World War II Winston Churchill and his generals frequently complained about the inability of America to think strategically, relying instead on nearly unlimited resources to deliver the tools that ultimately won the war. Some two decades later as the Vietnam War raged, Harvard Professor Stanley Hoffmann wistfully observed that America believed that its adversaries either reasoned strategically as we did or were in desperate need of being educated to our level. When America overwhelmed the Taliban in Afghanistan and then overthrew Saddam Hussein's Iraq, the aim was to change the geostrategic landscape of the greater Middle East.
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My Comment: There is a lot to digest in the above analysis .... and there is much that I do agree with. If I was to add to the discussion, I would stress the point that many of our leaders and their advisers do understand the strategic view .... but are hindered by their own constituencies and special interests. The media, economic interests, the interests of our allies, political opponents with their own political agenda .... all of these factors come into play.
As a democracy we are limited in our actions, and while many may say this hinders our strategic views and options .... I say that it is our strength. If we make a mistake .... we are always quick to change the strategy. If sacrifice is necessary ... we are always willing to sacrifice if the cause is just and the strategy is presented as such. What is important is that as long as our differing viewpoints and opinions are respected .... we will always persevere .... even when our strategic views and options are hindered and/or even flat wrong. And in the end .... that is what counts.