Thursday, November 12, 2009

Strategy and Objectives

The president wants to make it clear that
The U.S. commitment in Afghanistan is not open-ended.
How many additional troops would be sent, he asks,
And what is the timeline for their presence in the war zone?

The war is now in its ninth year and is
Claiming U.S. lives at a record pace.
Military leaders say the Taliban
Has the upper hand in many parts of the country.

(AP dispatch, November 12, 2009)

The old management professor asks,
What are our interests in this theater?
What are we attempting to accomplish?
How will we know that we have succeeded?

Then, and only then, can the following decisions be made:
A plan for getting the job done.
The resources necessary for executing the plan.
Measurements of success at stated intervals.

If we don't have these in place, we are throwing
Young lives into futile gestures.
The president is correct in raising concrete demands.
He answers to the people whose sons and daughters are at risk.

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