rwe:

Sometimes the press can ruin strategic plans.

The Battle of Verdun was an excellent strategic move for Germany — in theory. Germany would take Verdun, fortify it thoroughly, and then let the French generals rain men on it because of Verdun’s symbolic value to French pride. The German high command was not interested in taking or keeping ground, but in destroying the French Army.

German newspapers got in the way of the strategy. German newspapers focused so much of the public’s attention onto the Battle of Verdun that the territory around Verdun attained nearly as much symbolic value for Germans as it did for the French. And all that public attention made it politically difficult for Germany to tactically withdraw its forces from Verdun (as it was supposed to do), instead throwing Germany’s men into keeping this symbolic ground.

It is difficult for a faction to keep strategic discipline in the face of public opinion. Refusing to defend a city from firebombing is not an easily decision to defend from public opinion; if al-Qaeda had refrained from attacking American forces in Iraq, it would have lost prestige. Our enemies cannot bear to be called cowards.

It is easy to say “bleed them white”; that is what our enemies tried to do to us. And if they didn’t bleed our forces white, they did bleed American public opinion dry. To “bleed them white”, one needs to have a level of strategic discipline that is difficult to achieve in today’s media environment.