CHAPTER IX
COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Every military operation of considerable magnitude almost
invariably produces some accomplishments which are praiseworthy and
others which leave something to be desired.
Familiarity with some
particular aspect of the operation usually encourages one to consider
himself qualified to evaluate not only the quality of these accomplish—ments but also to pass judgment on the thinking which influenced that
quality.
By the simple exercise of hindsight it is easy to place
the stamp of approval on those decisions which contributed to the
success of a particular phase of an operation and to criticize
those which appeared to affect that phase unfavorably.
It is some-
what more difficult, however, to be certain that such conclusions
will remain valid when applied to the operation as a whole.
Even
when complete validity is established for an evaluation of past
events and of the judgments which produced them, it is not possible
to guarantee that similar judgments will in the future produce
similar effects.
Nevertheless, improvement. in the fruits of human
endeavor can generally be expected only when the knowledge gained
from human experience
is utilized.
Consequently, the discussions
and the recommendations in this chapter are recorded with the hope
that they may prove useful in the future even though they admittedly
represent a unilatoral point of view.
The order in which they appear
herein is not necessarily to be considered as the order of their relative importance.
Section VIIT
Their later usefulness will finally be determined by
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