From our modern perspective, is Gulf War II a failure?

I fervently disagree with any assertion that would foist any label of failure on this war, but some would mistake that assertion as one that does not question whether mistakes have been made in the war’s execution. It should go without question that mistakes will be made, but mistakes and “failures” should not be the solitary focus of any critique. War is hell, and with this hellish nature of war, perfect execution is never attainable.

Victor Davis Hanson’s op-ed over at NRO goes a long way in delving into perspective. It would seem that in the vacuum of our modern lives has morphed what we construe to be mistakes and “failures.” When we are able to live life without the atrocities and sacrifices of war, we somehow feel as though that our comfort should be juxtaposed onto war itself. Yet, Mr. Hanson paints a vivid landscape of what would be these same expectations during World War II. It is quite illuminating to see such a historian critique an era from the perspective of modern eyes and expectations foisting upon the “Greatest Generation” our ideas of mistakes and “failures.”

(Hat Tip - Wizbang!)

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