Learning War as You Go

I'm too busy these days to do much blogging. If business takes off, as it may, I'll not be back for quite a while. If it slows down, as it may well, perhaps I will. Since much of what I'm working at these days is in the US, well, yet another reason to hope Obama gets his act together, I suppose.

Anyway, the NYT carried a story today about the evolving war in Afghanistan. Apparently, both sides (Taliban and Marines) are carefully watching each other, learning, and adapting. This is one of the fundamental things about warfare: just when you think you've figured out how to do it right, the other side changes their rules and you've got to start all over again, including lots of mistakes on the way. Ah, and mistakes at war cost human lives.

I sort of wish, since the war's aleady happening anyway, the broader public which has forgotten what war is all about might educate itself a bit, and become a mite less foolish. But I don't think that's happening.