Victory Has a Thousand Fathers (by RAND)

[JMA]

You may be right. I remain hopeful though. I have great confidence in the ability of the guys on the spot to figure something out. And remember too, a lot of those guys have multiple tours.

A couple of points. You don't have to wait for the fat lady to sing before you know its over. Generally they (the politicians and the generals) start to fudge the aim/mission in relation to the horrible truth that is beginning to dawn. Then the "guys on the spot" just don't have the power to really influence policy/strategy/tactics at any more than a very local level. Finally the gap between tours make true and effective continuity of manpower impossible. Sometimes a soldier carrying forward outdated experiences from the past is more of a liability than a fresh one who tends to suck in the knowledge like a dry sponge and adapt quicker.

You don't know how much I wish I was wrong, this is a head and a heart thing.