By all indications, the US and its Coalition partners have won the war in Iraq. Despite everything, and regardless of whether the US should have gone into Iraq in the first place, the US and its partners won the war.
Somehow we have trouble recognizing victory.
And what about Afghanistan? The last time Barack Obama called for victory in Afghanistan, as far as I can tell, was during the 2008 campaign.
That prompted me to look at how the US military defines "victory." Going to the Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, the definitive Joint Chiefs of Staff keeper of the American national security lexicon, we search for an official definition of victory.
The screenshot above, taken today, March 17, 2011, shows how the Pentagon defines victory: It doesn't.
See for yourself: http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/dod_dictionary/
Something to think about as we send more of our people to kill and die.
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