How to Sell a War: First, Start to Win

by  Graham Bowley

As President Obama recalculates how to fight in Afghanistan, he might bear this in mind: The public has held up an hourglass before every recent wartime president so he can measure its patience. There is only one sure way to stop the sand from running out: Deliver victory, or at least show clear progress toward it.

“Public opinion has always been a concern in all of America’s wars, no matter how long or how short, or how noble or how ignoble they were perceived,” said Peter D. Feaver, a professor of political science at Duke University who served on President George W. Bush’s National Security Council. “It is always in play.”

Sometimes public opinion can start wars and dictate their speed and course. At other times, wars are forced on a country. But once they are joined, the hunger for progress in battle has to be satisfied...  Read the whole article.