An interesting series of essays analyzing the state of the nation and in particular its military strategies has been developed by Commander Jeff Huber, U.S. Navy (Retired).

An excerpt from one installment:

"When hegemonic America goes to war, unless it has a very clear end-state strategy, it will be embroiled in that war for a long, long time. And our present strategic situation once again proves the wisdom of the ancient Chinese General Sun Tzu's admonition that "There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare."

There may also be no instance of an empire that didn't fail to learn that the military power that established it was not sufficient to sustain it. It pains me no end to point this out, but the military might that brought America victory in the Great War, the Good War, and the Cold War failed to defend us from the 9/11 attacks, is not accomplishing our strategic objectives overseas, and has not made us safer at home.

As I've described it before, our current strategic situation is a goat rope tied in Gordian knots and wrapped around a Moebius strip. The debate over what America's proper force structure should be will go on until brown cows give chocolate milk, but I firmly believe that the real solution to our conundrum is enlightened leadership--the kind of leadership that understands that while armed force is a vital tool of national power, its ability to achieve the strategic aims of a sole global superpower is profoundly limited.

Sometimes "fighting them over there" accomplishes little more that giving "them" an opportunity to give you a bloody nose.

You can't lose your front teeth in a bar fight if you stay away from the bar. "

http://zenhuber.blogspot.com/