Eisenhower would not have gotten us into Iraq

http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-opmie145411356oct14,0,2671964.story

<snip>One competition Eisenhower shunned was war, which he called "the ultimate failure of everything you've tried to do as a country." As the general who led the D-Day invasion, he knew war's extreme cost in lives and resources. In 1956, when Britain, France and Israel attacked Egypt to retake the Suez Canal, Eisenhower denounced America's three allies rather than get entangled in a Middle East military conflict.

This aversion to war - especially in the world's most volatile region - provides a contrast with President George W. Bush that Americans weary of war in Iraq might appreciate. In guarding against overreaction, Eisenhower showed a restraint that allowed him to keep U.S. troops out of Vietnam's jungles and likely would have led him to steer clear of Iraq as well.

Iraq represents the battleground that Eisenhower feared and avoided most. He saw guerrilla and street fighting as a deathtrap for U.S. troops, giving the enemy the advantages of terrain and support from the native population. The protracted violence would lay waste to a country and breed loathing toward America for generations. When faced with petty dictators such as those in some Middle Eastern countries, Eisenhower emphasized the need to pick battles wisely, dismissing such regimes as a "tyranny of the weak" and ruefully conceding, "We must put up with it."

Averting war took self-discipline. On a personal level, Eisenhower often demonstrated this by keeping his explosive temper in check. On a political level, he knew that Congress, the Pentagon and defense contractors would use Sputnik as an opportunity to pry open federal coffers, a temptation he resisted.

His farewell address' famous warning against a "military-industrial complex" reflected his fear that these interests could exert excessive influence in America. Ultimately, Eisenhower worried that overreaction to the new space race could ratchet up the arms race, warp the economy and lead to political and economic disaster.

I also see a lot of Ike in Wesley Clark. Another general who is a brilliant military mind, who doesn't see the military as a hammer and every problem as a nail. Wes has a firm grasp on foreign relations and diplomacy and wants to use those options first. Your best military minds are the ones who do not want to use the military to fight, only to deter. However, what sets them apart is what they are capable of DOING with the military should it come to a fight in the end.