Expert: Endless war strengthens enemies

Every time the United States gets bogged down in wars it cannot win - and need not fight - the nation emboldens its enemies, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and international affairs expert told the Naval Academy's Brigade of Midshipmen this week.

"Common sense always starts with the notion of what is achievable," former New York Times journalist Leslie H. Gelb told the midshipmen gathered for a Forestal Lecture in Alumni Hall Monday night.

"We ought to stop taking on tasks abroad that are unachievable," Gelb said.

There is no need for the United States to be fighting a war it cannot...