I think that statement right there is the crux of it.
I have mixed feelings on Clausewitz, but one thing I that did seep in from my first read of On War was that it is very hard to achieve success (let alone measure it) if you don’t have a clear idea of what your goal is. “Kill lots of enemy” is not particularly good goal.
Measuring success in war related matters isn’t easy.
The US army did a lot of bad things because generals got the goal of achieve a high body count of dead Taliban.
I think that statement right there is the crux of it.
I have mixed feelings on Clausewitz, but one thing I that did seep in from my first read of On War was that it is very hard to achieve success (let alone measure it) if you don’t have a clear idea of what your goal is. “Kill lots of enemy” is not particularly good goal.
And, ironically, this goal was apparently set by a failed-out Air National Guard pilot.