Carl von Clausewitz once said: “No one starts a war—or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so—without first being clear in is mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it.” One hundred and forty years later Dr. Fred Charles Iklé, a noted sociologist and expert defense strategist authored Every War Must End where he shares his insights on the difficult process which wars have been brought to a close and how those lessons learned from the past influence the strategies of the future. In Dr. Iklé’s book, he states: “fighting often continues long past the point where a ‘rational’ calculation would indicate that the war should be ended—ended, perhaps, even at the price of major concessions.” In my short lifespan …show more content…
Battlefield commanders have to know what end they are to reach, not only presently, but also at the war’s end when developing offensive or defensive strategy. A strategic pathway incorporates preplanning all engagements to achieve the overall objective. The initial exit plan may change as battle campaigns progress. Social and political pressures may build, calling for amendments; these factors may drive changes to the exit plan. If the strategy is changed too frequently the objective will not be reached, major concessions made be made to all or some of the key players, leading to prolonged efforts, costs, and political unrest. The United States loses advantage in military conflicts when a 360 degree strategy does not exist. Political, strategic, operational and tactical powers without an exit strategy included as part of the contingency campaign historically prolongs warfare, loss of major concessions or objectives. This domestic political context pressured the United States leadership to alter its exit strategy and begin pulling out troops, ending in complete …show more content…
Each side risks losing the ongoing war while trying to improve its position for some future conflict. Developing an effective exit strategy becomes more difficult with prolonged military engagements. The difficulty is compounded by the complexity of the conflict and the vague objectives toward end-states. “As the United States experience in Iraq suggests, it is not easy to devise an exit from deep and prolonged military engagement in a conflict that ultimately requires the crafting of a political