ABSTRACT
The United States invaded Iraq and toppled Saddam Hussein's regime with great despatch at little cost. Civilian leaders browbeat military commanders for campaign plans that fit their views of the risks and costs. A strategy bridge securely connects policy with its instrumental agencies, including military forces. Strategy, both the process and the product, are essential to spanning the black hole from policy aims to achieved strategic effect. A recent assessment of American strategy has concluded that The Bush case study shows that there is a long road between the articulation of a grand strategy and the successful implementation of that strategy. The strategist, who holds the proverbial bridge between policy and military means, must accept the historical fact that he or she will never operate in a purely rational environment separate from the political realm, where non-rationality is the norm rather than the exception.
