Why Does The West Repeatedly Lose Against An Enemy It Could Easily Destroy?

The Sultan Knish wrote a good article explaining the four main reasons the West continues to lose. It is not only interesting reading, it is insightful. He shows us what needs to be changed, or what barriers we will have to overcome in order to win. One of the four reasons is that diplomacy has become more important in the Western mind than war. As he explains:

War then becomes a halfhearted effort to hurt the enemy just enough to convince them to give in to our peacemaking demands. Unfortunately when the enemy has no interest in giving in, the military campaign quickly becomes a painful bloody drawn out mess with no real objective except buzzwords such as "Stabilization" and "Reining in the Extremist Elements Who Stand in the Way of Peace."

The latest example of such a misguided military campaign could be seen in Gaza, but it can just as well be seen in Iraq, and for that matter Vietnam. If you're not playing to win, but assuming that the enemy will give up and come to the negotiating table, then you're playing to lose... particularly against an enemy who knows how the game is played, and knows that all he needs to do is stay alive long enough for you to give up and go away.

Read the whole article: Playing To Win.