we didn't have a strategy, we had a policy -- 'containment' -- that was implemented through a large variety of strategies (many varying from each Administration to the next...) and we killed a lot of people and broke a lot of things...
Nor did we win, we got to a qualified draw that left our nominal opponent in bad shape due to his own profligacy. We also seem determined to do the same sort of thing...
"Targeting" the noun is a US misapplication of the word targeting, a verb which itself is misuse of the noun target, a word derived from the Celtic Targe, a round shield.
Long way of saying that targeting can mean different things to different people and a reason to trot out my favorite William F. Halsey quote "Regulations were meant to be intelligently disregarded." Not just Regs, applies even more so to doctrine in general; it's a guide, not a prescription.Sam Griffith has almost as much to answer for as does Robert Strange McNamara. FWIW, Sun Wu, CvC and John Boyd do not have all the answers -- no one does. Hewing overly strongly to the written word causes target fixation and deters flexibility...""For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill. - Sun Tzu""
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