Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Can one command handle two wars?

I wonder if when the histories of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are better understood if we will conclude that we should not let one combatant command try to oversee two wars. Oddly, this thought is provoked not by events in either country but in a third: Iran. Speaking of Iraq, one Best Defender ...

AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images

I wonder if when the histories of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are better understood if we will conclude that we should not let one combatant command try to oversee two wars.

I wonder if when the histories of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are better understood if we will conclude that we should not let one combatant command try to oversee two wars.

Oddly, this thought is provoked not by events in either country but in a third: Iran.

Speaking of Iraq, one Best Defender reports seeing the other day in Niles, Michigan, a bumper sticker that said, "I (heart) Sadr City."

And I see that bombs are still blasting off in and around Baghdad. I wonder if it will be a long December there.

(HT to "Charlieford")

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1
Tag: War

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