The debriefing was as vicious as you'd expect it to be, the Navy commander methodic in his dissection of one of the greatest failures in military history. The massive loss of life and strategic capabilities were inevitable once the officers of history's greatest military force allowed large sections of the region to "develop into a safe haven" for lawlessness and terrorism, "the perfect environment to allow a rebellion to grow." "Once maritime dominance is established, resistance from shore rarely stops," says Cmdr. BJ Armstrong. "Without small ships to run intercept the blockade was simply a dismal failure." Armstrong, an academy...