What We Are Doing in Afghanistan

 Click for larger version

Well, this certainly explains a lot.  For instance, why we can't win in Afghanistan.  And why we couldn't win in Iraq.  And Vietnam probably too.

"The introduction of a multiplicity of objectives into a problem not only destroys its unity, but also increases markedly both the time necessary for, and the actual personal danger involved in, its solution."
                    --  E. E. "Doc" Smith, PhD, early science fiction author

Multiplicity of objectives also markedly decreases the probability of success, in this case by several orders of magnitude.  Here is General Patton's similar diagram for winning WWII in Europe.  It worked well:

  Gen. George S. Patton, 3rd Army -----> Kill Germans ----> Win War 

Unfortunately, Ahmadinejad's diagram is as simple as Patton's.
.