How successful were the civilians decisions in the Vietnam war, hmmmm???
Awful. What’s your point?
Let me refine that response. Civilians should set the goals and get out of the way and let the military do their job. That is NOT what happened in Vietnam. The Civilians micromanaged the war. Disaster.
Sorry, and another thing. In Afghanistan the civilians have not given clear achievable goals to the military. That also is a prescription for disaster.
Obviously I am thinking this through on the fly. The military of course needs to be consulted during the goal setting process as to what is achievable by military means. And the military needs to give good honest advice in return. I’m not sure that always happens with many of these “political” generals.