What's Old Is New Again

And what's true is true again.

Looking back, I deeply regret that I did not force a probing debate on whether it would ever be possible to forge a winning military effort on the foundtation of a political quicksand. It became clear then, and I believe it is clear today, that miltary force--especially when wielded by an outside power--just cannot bring order to a country that cannot govern itself.

If anyone should know, and from bitter firsthand experience, it would be the author of that quote. That would be Robert McNamara, Lyndon Johnson's Secretary of Defense, in In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam.