> The inability of the military to effectively execute total war because of public palatability leads to these outcomes - zombie wars that can never be won, because no one has the stomach to do/say what actually needs to be done.

What more could have been done in Vietnam? The US deployed napalm, agent orange, reinstituted the draft at home, maintained a policy of inflicting maximum casualties on the enemy, and still failed to achieve victory. It's also hard to justify "total war" when your sovereignty/existence is not at stake and you're effectively an interloper in other people's conflicts.