Planning to Fail: The US Wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan

The United States national-security establishment is vast, yet the United States has failed to meet its initial objectives in almost every one of its major, post-World War II conflicts. Of these troubled efforts, the US wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan stand out for their endurance, resource investment, human cost, and miscalculated decisions.



In Planning to Fail, James H. Lebovic argues that a profound myopia helps explain US decision-making failures. In each of the wars explored in t...