ABSTRACT
This chapter invokes the test of praxis over time and admit the possibility that air strikes may not achieve their "humanitarian objectives". A review of the literature on war and military thought quickly reveals an interesting bias. The authors often cited are those of the Western military tradition with a few ancient authors, one or two Chinese, and a passing reference to some Russian or Soviet thinker or practitioners. The military theoreticians of old still hold sway in the staff colleges and war colleges of the world's professional militaries. During World War II, military theory, strategy and praxis were in balance. The Cold War and Korean Conflict operated both within and outside comprehensive strategy, since the assumption was that nuclear exchange would destroy the planet, so strategy involved the prevention of nuclear exchange. The domestic context of the President's recent remarks on Afghanistan and the timeline for that conflict make transparent the political content of his message.
