They have to fight their own wars

[question everything]

Leslie Gelb wrote the obituary for McNamara in TIME. Here is how he concludes it:

And as I now contemplate the departure of a life so central to my own and that of my country as Bob McNamara's, one overriding lesson bombards my mind: nationalist wars, civil wars, tribal and religious wars--they can never be won by Americans. As long as we're there and willing to fight and die, we won't lose. But in the end, we can't win either unless we realize that it must be their war--a war for the South Vietnamese to fight for their freedom and a war for Afghans to fight for theirs. We can help, but it must be theirs.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1909627,00.html

[BlooInBloo]

1. There are only 2 ways a war can end...

1) One side gives up
2) One side is exterminated.

We were unable to achieve the first, and thankfully unwilling to achieve the second.

[question everything]

2. And, I suspect, these rules hold when the war is between regular armies

but when you are dealing with "insurgents" all bets are off.

[Odin2005]

3. Especially when the insurgents are fanatics that would rather shoot you than talk to you.