To be sure, there is unavoidable subjectivity in these characterizations. That said, the distinction between wars of necessity and wars of choice is not one between wars that are judged to have been good and wars that are judged to have been bad or between those seen as successes and those seen as failures. History’s judgment as to whether a war was worth fighting or fought well has no bearing on what kind of war it was. Thus, the first Iraq war, undertaken by President George H. W. Bush in 1991, would have remained a war of necessity even if it had proved to be far more costly or less successful. It just would have been a costly war of necessity. Similarly, the second Iraq war, initiated by George W. Bush just over a decade later, would have remained a war of choice even if the human and economic costs had proved to be more modest and the accomplishments greater. It just would have been a relatively inexpensive war of choice. Outcomes and the balance between results and costs shape our verdict of policies, but hindsight is not required to understand what was done and why.
Why does all this matter? When it comes to wars of necessity, it does not. By definition, such wars must be fought. But wars of choice place added burdens on decision-makers because of the often-considerable human, military, and economic costs associated with going to war. Such wars should be fought only after the most rigorous assessments of the likely costs and benefits of action -- as well as of the likely costs and benefits of implementing other policies. The right answer is not to rule out all wars of choice but to understand that they need to be rare so as to ensure that there is still the adequate will and ability to fight wars of necessity when they materialize.
RICHARD N. HAASS
President, Council on Foreign Relations
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