Your initial premise may not be true in many cases

Submitted by Ron (Israel), Aug 28, 2013 at 03:49

Your initial premise, "Warfare is a very serious business whose first imperative is to deploy force to win – rather than to punish, make a statement, establish a symbolic point, or preen about one's morality." may not be true in many cases I can think of.

One that immediately springs to mind is the Yom Kipur War which Sadat started in order to restart a political process that will eventually get Egypt the Sinai.

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