Underestimating the Enemy: The Mistake That Starts Our Wars

From the American Revolution to the war in Vietnam to America’s most recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, a belief in a quick victory has pervaded the opening months of almost every war we have fought. New York Times bestselling historian Thomas Fleming traces the long history of the overconfidence and underestimating the enemy that has preceded virtually every U.S. military conflict and the toll it has taken in American lives.