'Two Quagmires' looks at hard lessons of war

'Two Quagmires' looks at hard lessons of war: "Hard-learned lessons from Vietnam were formally outlined in a doctrine set forth by Caspar Weinberger, Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan, in 1984. Weinberger said the six conditions for the use of force are that U.S. vital interests must be at stake, there must be a clear commitment to victory, political and military objectives must be made clear, military forces must be of the proper size, public and congressional support must be secured and force must be the last resort.

Campbell writes that those lessons were applied, even in the Persian Gulf War under President George H.W. Bush, but were discarded by neo-conservatives in the current administration of President George W. Bush as they pressed for a war of choice, rather than necessity, in Iraq."