But outsiders bearing advice do have to nod to the understandable war-weariness of the American public, and their natural desire to want to see more nation-building at home.
"What we're seeing now is in large part the unintended consequence of the American public's understandable war-weariness," Doug Wilson, a former assistant secretary of defense for public affairs and now a senior fellow at the Truman National Security Project and the Center for National Policy, told VICE News.
It was understandable: The war years coincided with my childhood, and then with the beginnings of maturity, of rational thought, of consciousness.
It's understandable that the war fills him with ambivalence.
Teddy's jumpiness is understandable, given his war history and the recent death of his wife.
"What we're doing at Guantánamo is more understandable in the war context," the official said.
"Should" and "must" declined steadily over the 20th century, apart from two upswellings that coincided with the two world wars (understandable occasions for the rhetoric of urgent necessity), though they have been on the rise again since their nadir in around 2003.
The men I encountered seemed more into Star Wars, understandable with the long-awaited sequel on the horizon.
You'd have the same amount of coverage, but you might have more voices saying, 'Well, you know, it's understandable, we're at war, we've been at war.' That's an unfortunate commentary on our society today".
Vatican worries about the effects of the war were understandable, said George Weigel, the pope's semiofficial biographer and consistent defender.
