Some of these rather hyper individuals are quick to call for “new strategy”, but are remarkably short on making some sort of declaration of just what the “new strategy” should be.
Either stay in and get the job done, or cut and run. If these “armchair gernerals” are so all-fired good at creating and conducting a better strategy, then by all means, let us hear what that strategy is.
All the competent staff officers with potential to become the good or even great generals today, skipped out and took retirement during the decade of the ‘90’s. Bush inherited a hollow shell of a military establishment in 2001, in which the positions were filled, but with officers of little or no combat experience, and with only the shakiest of resumes. But they had survived the “screening” process to bring them up to “politically correct” standards.
People cursed and blamed Donald Rumsfeld for seeming to not be able to get a handle on the problem in the early days after 9/11, but as Rumsfeld remarked at the time, you never go to war with the army you want, you go to war with the army you have. It took a long time to ramp up the readiness of the military to the state that they only now can perform the way that was so desperately needed in 2002 and 2003. And even now, they are forced to go into battle with one arm tied behind their backs, to satisfy all the criticism, just and unjust, that gets hurled their way.
Well stated!!