Exercise of Power: American Failures, Successes, and a New Path Forward in the Post-Cold War World

by Robert M. Gates

I cannot emphasize enough that the objective of military intervention must be clear, and the strategy and resources committed must be adequate to achieving the objective. Too often presidents, sensitive to domestic politics, are tempted to use just enough military force to avoid failure but not enough to achieve success. Such an approach is not only strategically unwise and imprudent, it is also immoral. The lives of American men and women in uniform must not simply be thrown at a problem and squandered in halfhearted or impulsive efforts. In the use of military force, the Yoda rule from Star Wars must be applied: “Do or do not; there is no try.”