Mission creep is the expansion of a project or mission beyond its original goals, often after initial successes. The term often implies a certain disapproval of newly adopted goals by the user of the phrase. Mission creep is usually considered undesirable because each success effects more ambitious, and perhaps reckless, attempts until a final, often catastrophic, failure occurs. ‘Mission Creep’ was originally applied exclusively to military operations, but has recently been applied to many different fields, mainly the growth of bureaucracies.
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BREITBART.COM — Afghan mission falls short of expectations: lawmakers