Achieving Total War Goals with a Limited War Force: Convincing the Enemy to Accept Defeat

After toppling the regime of Saddam Hussein in a few weeks, the decisive operational maneuver victory was not enough to defeat the enemy's will to fight. Instead of challenging US forces in a conventional military battle, the enemy has now sought an asymmetrical fight through the use of suicide bombers, kidnappings, beheadings and improvised explosive devices in order to wear down US resolve. This monograph ascertains what is needed to completely defeat the enemy. More importantly, the monograph argues that when the Soviet Union dissolved, the military and policy makers should have recognized the paradigm shift in warfighting, which could lead in our quest for a total war solution without a nuclear exchange.