Why America Can't Win Its Wars by Peter R. Mansoor, Hoover Institution
Poor strategic decision making since 2001 has involved the United States in messy civil wars that will take years, if not decades, to resolve. In Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, regime change has come easily, but a limited commitment to stabilizing those nations has resulted in messy, bloody, and expensive aftermaths. Those wars show that military success alone cannot ensure a stable post-conflict outcome. Only the presence of US military forces, economic aid, and a long-term political commitment from US policy makers to rebuild and restore defeated nations can ensure enduring peace.
Peter R. Mansoor, Colonel (ret.) from the US Army, is the General Raymond E. Mason Jr. Chair of Military History at Ohio State University and a CNN military analyst. His twenty-six-year military career featured two tours of duty in Iraq, including as an executive officer to General David Petraeus. His most recent publication is Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War.