Why is it that government never seem to learn?

Both Napoleon and Hitler got their donkey kicked when each attempted to invade Russia (in winter) in violation of a simple military fact which has been taught at West Point’s War College for generations:

“The simple impracticality of trying to conduct an ‘Insurgency War’ on an infinitely expandable field!” 

The French, and then ourselves attempted it in Viet Nam, with the same results.  The Russians and also the British (three times) tried the same trick in Afghanistan, like ourselves, and all of these efforts could be likened to flies trying to conquer the fly-paper.  What will it take, before the governors of people, the world over, will learn?

           One definition of “insanity” is “doing the same thing over and over again, with the same unpleasant results, and always with the expectation that "this time it would be different!”  In each of these examples, these follies had been initiated by persons in positions of power, with access to virtually infinite resources and only a passing concern, if any, for the uncountable number of human tragedies which their determinations would instigate, on both sides, focused on individual men, women and children, who know nothing of the power-politics to which their lives would be sacrificed.  For such is the way of all wars. How long will this human tragedy be allowed to continue?