VDH shacks this one. Second guessing does no one any good. Bad things happen in war. We have done quite well. I only wish I was more confident about what we are doing at home. People are forgetting September 11. The war ain't over, not by a long shot.
Are mistakes made? Of course... War is messy. War ebbs and flows... Could some mistakes have been avoided? Sure, looking in hindsight...100% of them could be avoided. But the commentators weren't there. They weren't caged in by the intelligence Jackson had. They weren't hemmed in by his limitations. Jackson was a genius. He won and won and won...
So, VDH is right. I get exasperated when I even read posts on FR by Freepers, who think they could run this war so much better than the people in charge. The only thing I would say...if you can, then you owe it to your country to get log off your computer and offer your sword and life... (you being a rhetorical you)
Our 24 hour news cycle and reporting in the style of the few seconds soundbytes is a cruel joke on ourselves. Nothing serious can be discussed in such a manner. There are big issues that our nation needs to discuss and come to some kind of consensus. But what we have is shrill accusations from the left, just plain stupid noise. The serious critique, feedback that is absolutely necessary for any organization to be successful (regardless of its size, be it GM or neighborhood auto-mechanic or Bush Administration) is drowned out in this noise, and easily dismissed. We don't have patience, we don't have discussion, just yelling at each other. I hope when W wins in November the temperature of the nation will go down a bit, and we will return to civil dialog....the point is clear. War is a horrendous experience in which the side that wins commits the fewest mistakes, rather than no errors at all.
This is why the Democrats cannot be trusted with the security of the nation. They wring their hands over the possibility of making even one mistake, and the result is they are paralyzed into inaction.
Second guessing does no one any good. Bad things happen in war. We have done quite well.
That's exactly Victors point.