i ntroduction 5He also intended to displace the Spanish empire from its remaining
outposts in the Western Hemisphere and the Pacifi c. George W. Bush
had weighed the possibility of military action against Iraq since the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. When he approved the invasion
in 2003, Bush sought to end any threat that Iraq might use or share
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) with extremist organizations, to
remove Saddam Hussein and his regime, and to establish a functioning
democracy in the heart of the Arab world that would serve as a model
for other nations across the region.
A historical irony jumps out at us. McKinley, with the very modest
and ill-prepared forces at his disposal, achieved his war goals quickly
and completely. American forces did encounter a nasty insurgency in
the Philippines, but this largely collapsed by 1901. McKinley was
rewarded with reelection in 1900 and his party retained control over the
White House during the next two elections.
By contrast, despite a far greater military advantage over the enemy,
Bush was unable to accomplish the larger political goal he defi ned for
the Iraq War. Iraq did not become a beacon of democracy. Instead, the
United States was dragged into a protracted confl ict with competing
sectarian factions, some aided by militants from abroad and foreign
governments. Th e ongoing low-intensity combat and American losses
contributed to Republican defeat in the 2006 congressional elections
and to Bush’s low approval ratings in his last two years in offi ce. Not
until 2008 did violence begin to abate in Iraq, and fighting there
continued into the presidency of Bush’s successor, Barack Obama. Th e
last American combat units were withdrawn in August 2010, making
the confl ict one of the longest in American history. Iraq’s political future
remains very much in doubt.
In this book I examine the tasks that presidents must undertake in
wartime and explain why they usually fail to accomplish at least some
of them. Th e Constitution establishes the president as the “Commander
in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia
of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United
States.” In that role, presidents face recurring challenges as they lead the
nation into armed confl ict. Th ey must decide whether to go to war,
prepare for it, defi ne and pursue national political objectives through
military operations, direct military operations to achieve those