that some people seem to believe that government can plan for all eventualities. It's an idiotic notion completely unsupported by history, especially when you're talking about warfare. If government plans worked properly, then the old Soviet Union would've been the world's economic powerhouse, what with all of those 5 Year Plans they had. Instead, they went down the toilet in large part because of their dependence on centralized planning of their economy. If government plans worked, there would be no cost overruns on projects like Boston's Big Dig or weapons system acquisitions. Instead, a project without schedule slips and/or cost overruns are more the exception than the rule.

In wartime, the only people who count on the enemy doing exactly as we plan are idiots. The enemy will adapt to changing circumstances and force us to do the same. This goes on until one side is defeated. Innovation in weapons, tactics, and procedures is the norm, and the old saying is that the plan goes out the window once the first shot is fired.

In the case of Iraq, the insurgents have proven very adaptable in their tactics to overcome our technological advantages. Their IEDs have killed hundreds of Americans despite all of our attempts to detect and negate them. Just yesterday, there was an article about how they vary their detonation techniques to foil our attempts at jamming. Sometimes, they use a cell phone as a detonator. Other times, it'll be a remote control from a toy car. Still other times, it'll be command detonated via wires. If we somehow managed to find a way to negate the IED threat today, within a few days, the insurgents will come up with a different way to attack. Such is the nature of war and it will continue until they are defeated or America loses it's nerve.