Compatible concepts: war strategy

New York Times had article yesterday, [News Analysis] "Two Messages for Two Sides."

(I like to read it, if it says "Analysis.")

[excerpt from top two 'graphs]:

> > > > WASHINGTON -- President Obama went before the nation on Tuesday night to announce that he would escalate the war in Afghanistan. And Mr. Obama went before the nation to announce that he had a plan to end the war in Afghanistan.

If the contrasting messages seemed jarring at first, they reflect the obstacles Mr. Obama faces....For those who still support the war, he is sending more troops. For those against it, he is offering the assurance of the exit ramp. < < < <

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The article uses the phrase "the contrasting messages":

I don't actually think that
"escalate the war in Afghanistan"
and
"end the war in Afghanistan"
are "contrasting" messages.

I see where the writer of the article is coming from, but ESCALATE and SET AN END DATE are not mutually exclusive.

I'm not an expert on war, but the people I know who went to Vietnam say that the reason the U.S. did not come out with a clear win there is because we never committed the troops, etc., necessary to DO THE JOB and WIN. And to be DONE WITH IT.

We just kept slogging along at it, and never even called it, officially, a war; I think it was known as a "police action" in Congress, throughout the conflict (correct me if I'm wrong).

Since the Vietnam experience,
any military action with no end-date projected for it, is going to acquire the label "quagmire." That isn't productive toward either garnering support or winning and being done with it.

It appears to me that Pres. Obama's attitude on military actions in general is, "Do it, or don't."
And:
"If we're going to do it, let's --
set a goal
set a time-frame
and
execute."

That's my impression.

Escalating the war -- i.e., sending more troops -- is, most certainly, compatible with setting an end date.

As the Vietnam experience taught us, it's when you don't send enough troops and weapons, etc., to do the job, that the job doesn't get done.

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