Today Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff made the most astute statement ever uttered by a United States Military Commander:
"We cannot kill our way to victory."
Perhaps it was a brief moment of clarity, a flash of human intuition ... either way truer words were never spoken.
Admiral Mullens was speaking about how our current strategy in Afghanistan is creating a bolder insurgency.
He also warned that time was running out on the ability of the West to provide Afghanistan with vital nonmilitary assistance for Afghanistan including roads, schools, alternative crops for farmers and the rule of law.
"These are the keys to success in Afghanistan. We cannot kill our way to victory and no armed force anywhere, no matter how good, can deliver these keys alone,"
Mullen said.
Oh Admiral Mullen do you see that for a brief moment of clarity you have described why the Bush / Cheney / NeoCon / Preemptive War / mind set has grown and expanded terrorist activity far beyond Osama bin Laden's wildest imagination.