The battlefields are quiet and even tranquil today,but the average Civil War soldier faced horror and exhaustion. >During the run-up to the Iraq War,former Vice President Dick Cheney famously declared that American troops would be welcomed as "liberators"in Iraq. > Cheney made the mistake that political leaders have been making for ages--he didn't know the enemy,says Emory Thomas,author of "The Dogs of War,"which examines how ignorance on both sides led to the Civil War. "Cheney thought it was going to be France in 1944,but it ended up Georgia in 1864,"Thomas says. > Civil War leaders made the same mistake,Thomas says.Northern leaders like Lincoln didn't really think ordinary Southerners who had no slaves would fight in defense of slavery.Southerners didn't think Northerners were willing to go to war to preserve the Union,he says. And few on both sides expected the war to be so bloody and long. "America in 1861 didn't realize what the hell they were doing,"he says."They just weren't willing to think of unpleasant possibilities." We risk the same mistakes when we commit to "limited"military campaigns in places such as Iraq and,most recently,Libya,Thomas says. When President Obama announced a limited air bombing campaign in Libya, Thomas thought about the political leaders before the Civil War. Each incrementally committed to various military provocations,thinking events wouldn't spiral out of control.They were wrong. "Once you commit to war,you don't have any control over how it ends,"Thomas says."It's amazing how that sounds like Libya now.We may blunder into success, but we don't know who these guys (Libyan rebels)are." The president as dictator Barack Obama isn't the first black president,according to some Southern secessionists.That would be Abraham Lincoln.He was called a "black Republican" and the "Great Dictator." >There a reason a large number of Americans despised Lincoln during the war. Think of the nation's recent "War on Terror."Some Americans thought Lincoln used the war to ignore the Constitution and expand the powers of the presidency.The battlefields are quiet and even tranquil today, but the average Civil War soldier faced horror and exhaustion.  During the run-up to the Iraq War, former Vice President Dick Cheney famously declared that American troops would be welcomed as "liberators" in Iraq.  Cheney made the mistake that political leaders have been making for ages -- he didn't know the enemy, says Emory Thomas, author of "The Dogs of War," which examines how ignorance on both sides led to the Civil War.  "Cheney thought it was going to be France in 1944, but it ended up Georgia in 1864," Thomas says.  Civil War leaders made the same mistake, Thomas says. Northern leaders like Lincoln didn't really think ordinary Southerners who had no slaves would fight in defense of slavery. Southerners didn't think Northerners were willing to go to war to preserve the Union, he says.  And few on both sides expected the war to be so bloody and long.  "America in 1861 didn't realize what the hell they were doing," he says. "They just weren't willing to think of unpleasant possibilities."  We risk the same mistakes when we commit to "limited" military campaigns in places such as Iraq and, most recently, Libya, Thomas says.  When President Obama announced a limited air bombing campaign in Libya, Thomas thought about the political leaders before the Civil War.  Each incrementally committed to various military provocations, thinking events wouldn't spiral out of control. They were wrong.  "Once you commit to war, you don't have any control over how it ends," Thomas says. "It's amazing how that sounds like Libya now. We may blunder into success, but we don't know who these guys (Libyan rebels) are."  The president as dictator  Barack Obama isn't the first black president, according to some Southern secessionists. That would be Abraham Lincoln. He was called a "black Republican" and the "Great Dictator."  There a reason a large number of Americans despised Lincoln during the war. Think of the nation's recent "War on Terror." Some Americans thought Lincoln used the war to ignore the Constitution and expand the powers of the presidency