[caveat emptor]

the message is clear: methods that once could be counted on to deliver swift decision no longer work.

methods that once could be counted on to deliver swift decision no longer work   haven't been tried for a few generations.

[LS]

Well, the methods we are using now were PRECISELY the methods we used to defeat an Islamic enemy in the Philippines from 1900-1910. What is fascinating is that the % of land forces we deployed then, and today, as a share of total U.S. ground forces was . . . almost identical. Then, and now, the enemy's goal was to win a political victory at home by provoking overreaction that would turn the entire population against the U.S. forces. It didn't work then, and it ain't working now.