Lessons from Bush's war on terrorism Looking at the United States from the outside in, these are the primary lessons the world should take away from America's "global war on terrorism" under the Bush-Cheney administration. Potential state-based adversaries should take little comfort from the U.S. government's record in Afghanistan and Iraq, primarily because its military has proven itself capable of learning how to better shape postwar outcomes -- its Achilles' heel since World War II. Worse, for them, that learning curve has kept its casualty levels low enough to call into question the long-held assumption that America has the patience only for short wars.