Lie.

“Well in war, my dear friends, there is no such thing as compromise; you either win or you lose.”

St. McCain

You never win in a war. You always lose. Lives, treasure, a bit of your soul, some of the best of each generation that marches off, something is always lost.

You fight wars when the value of what you might lose - territory, perhaps, or liberty, certainly - justifies the price you must pay.

Only then.

Because you always lose.