1. Many things reported with confidence in the first hours and days will turn out not to be true
2. Whatever they say, the people who start wars are often thinking chiefly about domestic politics
3. The rationale given for a war will change over time, such that actual success or failure in achieving a named objective is less relevant than one might think
Timothy Snyder posted this a few hours ago.
Five things to remember about war:
1. Many things reported with confidence in the first hours and days will turn out not to be true
2. Whatever they say, the people who start wars are often thinking chiefly about domestic politics
3. The rationale given for a war will change over time, such that actual success or failure in achieving a named objective is less relevant than one might think
4. Wars are unpredictable
5. Wars are easy to start and hard to stop.
Point #2 is the main one, IMHO. The entry into the war is his wag-the-dog move.