A military maxim has it that amateurs talk about strategy while professional soldiers discuss logistics. That is as true in the age of intercontinental missiles as it was in Napoleon's day. The hardest part of any war is moving fighting forces into the field and supplying their gargantuan needs. When the U.S. decided last week to draw "a line in the sand" of the Arabian Peninsula, it took on an immense logistical task. Keeping troops supplied with water in the desert's 120 degrees heat will be as vital as keeping them supplied with ammunition.
The first assignment for arriving U.S. units,...