meant to them to know that somebody in washington cared that much about their own son and daughtering a couple of quick ones i ve been saying all morning i wanted to ask you about the future of war. here is what you said back in 2011 at west point. in my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big american land army into asia or into the middle east or africa should have his head examined as general mcarthur so delicately put it. does that mean to say that you think iraq and afghanistan will never truly be won, will never be seen as a victory? i think that one of the other things that i write in the book is that if you look back to the korean war, there are very few instances where we have been militarily engaged in a major conflict where we have come out with what we saw as a victory as clear-cut as in world war ii or in the first gulf war in 1991. whether it was korea or vietnam or iraq or afghanistan, there is
somebody in washington cared that much about their own son and daughtering a couple of quick ones i ve been saying all morning i wanted to ask you about the future of war. here is what you said back in 2011 at west point. in my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big american land army into asia or into the middle east or africa should have his head examined as general mcarthur so delicately put it. does that mean to say that you think iraq and afghanistan will never truly be won, will never be seen as a victory? i think that one of the other things that i write in the book is that if you look back to the korean war, there are very few instances where we have been militarily engaged in a major conflict where we have come out with what we saw as a victory as clear-cut as in world war ii or in the first gulf war in 1991. whether it was korea or vietnam or iraq or afghanistan, there is not a conclusion to these
washington cared that much about their own son and daughter. a couple of quick ones. i ve been saying all morning i wanted to ask you about the future of war. here is what you said back in 2011 at west point. in my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big american land army into asia or into the middle east or africa should have his head examined as general mcarthur so delicately put it. does that mean to say that you think iraq and afghanistan will never truly be won, will never be seen as a victory? i think that one of the other things that i write in the book is that if you look back to the korean war, there are very few instances where we have been militarily engaged in a major conflict where we have come out with what we saw as a victory as clear-cut as in world war ii or in the first gulf war in 1991. whether it was korea or vietnam or iraq or afghanistan, there is not a conclusion to these conflicts that end in a victory parade.
robert gates was on to something when he stated that any of his successors who advise the president to again send a big american land army into asia or the middle east or africa should have his head examined. it is not just that it promises to be too costly. it is also that the prospects for success are too small. as you just said, richard, local realities matter. nothing is more difficult than remaking another society except in the rarest cases. we should confine nation building to here at home where it is sorely needed. and it s what you and barnacle and mika and willie and i have been saying around this set for a very long time. you re also beginning to see it in the political space. i think there is an understanding that what we did in iraq and afghanistan cannot become a template for the future of american foreign policy. it is simply unsustainable. we have to act smarter abroad in part so we can fix what is ailing here at home. a number of republicans feel
america afford a third war? why now and what happens when the smoke clears? our next two guests have opposing viewpoints on the issue and what is very interesting workplace relationship. steven goldsteen and steven guy join me now. gentlemen, good morning. good morning. good morning to you. great it have you. before we get started i want to play you a sound bite from defense secretary robert gates. this was a comment he made near the end of february at west point about future u.s. military actions. take a listen. in my opinion, any future s defense secretary who advises the president to, again, send a big american land army into asia or into the middle east or africa should have his head examined as general mcarthur so put it. what are your thoughts after hearing secretary gates there? i think he s right on. i wish we listened to mcarthur