To the Editor:
Re “U.S.-Led Assaults Hit Tripoli Again; Objective Is Near” (front page, March 22):
How hard is this?
(1) Don’t go to war except as a last resort and only when this country’s vital interests are at stake.
(2) Before the first shot is fired in anger, have a crystal-clear objective and a well-defined endgame.
(3) Coalitions are grand, but they’re also immaterial. Revisit Rule 1.
(4) If it comes to war, fight it with the full might of your armed forces. Revisit Rule 1.
(5) Exit as quickly and as cleanly as possible.
Why is it that we need to make the same mistakes over and over again? Why this need to be the beat cop for the entire world, the moral arbiter for all of mankind, the financier in money and blood for every dispute? And, ironically, all the more hated because of it.
As it goes in the old folk song, when will they ever learn?
Chuck Okosky
Longboat Key, Fla., March 22, 2011
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 