Is this how plans are made in the Pentagon?

From the New York Times:

Pentagon Sees Move in Somalia as Blueprint

Jan. 12 — Military operations in Somalia by American commandos, and the use of the Ethiopian Army as a surrogate force to root out operatives for Al Qaeda in the country, are a blueprint that Pentagon strategists say they hope to use more frequently in counterterrorism missions around the globe…….

Pentagon officials said it is still not known whether any senior Qaeda suspects or their allies were killed in the airstrike on Sunday, carried out by an AC-130 gunship.

Seems to me the strategists would first determine if their plan worked, i.e., killed the right targets.