I should have made that clear. My error.
The old Reconnaissance simile is an example. We don't do reconnaissance at all well, not because we can't learn and practice the techniques and / or the patience required but because senior Commanders -- actually and far more importantly, their Staffs -- are not willing to allow the time to properly conduct a thorough recon.
Same thing occurs with Congress, given any event, they will rush to pass stupid, meaningless and often unenforceable laws to "...show the American people we're on the job." Idiots. The Patriot Act (not as bad as it's depicted but still a poor law), airport screening, DHS, Assault Weapons Ban -- there are hundreds of examples, one of which is the 94th Congress's perfidy.
Long way of agreeing. The Troops, with proper training can and will do what's required; the American people as a body are patient -- we put up with the idiocy in DC, after all -- but the Political classes have this need to show how great they are and how quickly they can get things done. This causes 'us' to do things poorly and stop before a job's completed.
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