IF WE CAN LEARN ONLY ONE LESSON IN HISTORY

If we learn only one history lesson in 2010 it better be this: Generals are usually fighting the last war....!

Unlike WWII, this is not force-on-force. Like judo, this is the opponent using our force against us. Translated: The US is so big and so large, we offer an infinity of targets; our military is so big and so large, we're burdened with the problem of trying to move it quickly enough to be in the right place at the right time.

Then fueling this new kind of asymmetric warfare is our enemy's ideological passion -- a thousand years of anti-Western Islamic resentment, now inflamed by Israel's and our presence felt throughout their lands.

President Obama nailed it a few days ago when he said the jihadists only have to be right once (in our skies or in our military bases) to ignite screaming, unnerving headlines. We, on the other hand, have to be right all the time to prevent such consequences. Bad odds...! Especially with hysterical critics who want to spend their time scapegoating each individual failure, rather than spend their commitment supporting the overall strategy.

As I remember it, that's the only way we finally won the last war which we clearly won. Clear back in 1945....