war may be entered into by one or a small handful of foolish individuals but every country has its share of good men and the foolish ones depend on them. the best case-in-point would be iraq (in the purely military and economic sense.) the leaders knew fully well what they needed to win and what they couldn't get so they try to make up for it by strategy or, if even that is not feasible, they gamble outright.

one shouldn't confuse unavailability of needed resources for incompetence.