I may be entirely wrong on this, and the two of you would probably know better than I would, but from what I can tell the whole concept of an "exit strategy" was something thought up by the left during Vietnam. The objective of any military operation should be clear and obtainable; throughout our nation's history, the objective of each war has always been clear to all. However, the left was so against Vietnam, that they began to complain about there not being an exit strategy (never mind that the objective was to prevent the communist overthrow of South Vietnam and if possible topple the communist regime in the north). Eventually, the leftists in Congress drastically cut the funding for the war, when it was obvious to the Pentagon that the military would not be ALLOWED to accomplish their objective, the notion of an exit strategy became necessary.
If you look back, the only time you will ever see an "exit strategy" referred to is when we are engaged in an operation that the left is steadfastly opposed to; in contrast if the left is in favor of the operation (the Balkans), conservatives will never scream about an exit strategy, and this would be the same even if we opposed the operation. So basically, "exit strategies" are what the unpatriotic will always complain about, while the true patriots will support our troops and the mission at hand regardless.
Well said.