Henry Payne for September 15, 2013

The best military strategy is to get the other side to lose its will to fight before any shots are fired. That may require quite a bit of saber-rattling, the build-up of a lot of fire power, and the will to use it if all else fails. *But if all else doesn’t fail, the other side gives in, and no shots are fired, does that make the “winner” indecisive? Isn’t this how Kennedy successfully handled the Cuban Missile Crisis? *Of course, one cannot use this tactic, then immediately gloat and say what they were thinking. And the Syrian situation is not over. For both reasons, it is premature to say whether Obama handled this well or just got lucky.