And thank you for a very well written post.
In terms of what the Right Thing to Do would be, I agree with you. Unfortunately, I have strong suspicions that the war is not winnable.
Call me an armchair general if you like. Strictly speaking, I am one. Nevertheless, I don't see a way to defeat a force of geurillas when every time you make a mistake and kill or capture the wrong group (and sometimes even if you get the right group) you anger the populace and end up supplying the enemy with more troops.
It just strikes me as a situation where there are only two options: 1) Admit defeat early, cut your losses, and pull out, or 2) Stick with it, keep suffering losses, and still end up being forced to admit defeat later on. Maybe I'm wrong, but I have yet to see a plausable alternative. |
