India, April 5 -- Operation Desert Storm in 1991 saw the US and its coalition allies launch massive land, air, and sea power. The "shock and awe" marked a change from the US grinding and unsuccessful war in Vietnam. The speedy victory even led to talk of a new era of warfare-a so-called Revolution in Military Affairs. In theory, the adversary would be defeated through speed and manoeuvre, with realtime intelligence provided by smart sensors guiding immediate attacks using precision weapons.

However, the counterinsurgency campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq that followed came to be labelled "forever wars" and saw the same coalition being bogged down. The military campaign in Afghanistan was the longest in US history, and in the end, despite...