Art of War I: 11-20

cont.
11. These five heads should be familiar to every general:
he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them
not will fail.

Thus the greatest lesson of Sun Tzu, know your crap!

12. Therefore, in your deliberations, when seeking
to determine the military conditions, let them be made
the basis of a comparison, in this wise:--

13. (1) Which of the two sovereigns is imbued
with the Moral law?

This the great perception. What if the troops on the ground believe equally in the Moral code of their leader? Groups like the Martyr's Brigade aim to live up to the name like the infamous Kamikazes of WWII. Of course you never see the leaders of these sucide units in action.
Our brave troops believed in Old Blood and Guts Patton during WWII. Now our troops are told to fight for their lives while politicians bicker at home. So how do our politicians expect our troops to fight it out when they aren't sure if they have the funding or the moral support of our leaders?

Much a like the Civil War. The South loved the Virginian Gen. Lee while Uncle Billy gave Atlanta and Columbia a deserved woodshed whipping' for their treason. Both troops believed in the Moral Law of their general. The Union had Copperheads to concern themselves with and McClellan running for office. Why did McClellan chose to finally be aggressive after being so cautious during his command? He wanted the war to end yet never fought to finish it.

(2) Which of the two generals has most ability?

There has been constant debate over the actual benefit of Hitler being assassinated like the attempt in the Bunker. The German generals were hindered and bullied into losing the war. As charismatic as Hitler was, he was no Rommel. Yes, eventually we were going to overpower them, but the Nazi generals were that good, just had piss poor management on top.
As opposed to the Allies which had men like Bradley, Ike, Patton, Montgomery and Zhukov to lead them. The US and British generals had support of leadership Stalin tried to play head games with Zhukov in the race to Berlin.

(3) With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven
and Earth?

Which army knows the lay of the land. My favorite example of this the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion. During the Revolutionary War, Marion and his band of rogues made life difficult for the British in the South. Use of guerilla style tatics proved annoying to the classic fighting style of the Brits. Mel Gibson's character in the Patriot had part of this sly hero in it.

(4) On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced?

See my post from a few days ago. He cut the friggin' concubine's head of! Two of them! The favorites!

(5) Which army is stronger?

Admiral Yamamoto felt that by attacking the US Japan would "awaken a sleeping giant" and felt that victory over the United States would be impossible.

(6) On which side are officers and men more highly trained?

When the Germans invaded Belgium during WWII, a fort lay in the way, Battice. The Germans built a replica and trained on it prior to battle. From where to march to which flamethrower would go to which pillbox. This difficult fort was crushed in no time.

(7) In which army is there the greater constancy
both in reward and punishment?

See above #4 above

14. By means of these seven considerations I can
forecast victory or defeat.

15. The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts
upon it, will conquer: let such a one be retained in command!
The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it,
will suffer defeat:--let such a one be dismissed!

What a great selling point. He is flat out telling you his product will work. Brillant.

16. While heading the profit of my counsel,
avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances
over and beyond the ordinary rules.

17. According as circumstances are favorable,
one should modify one's plans.

Improvise, Adapt, Overcome

18. All warfare is based on deception.

Two of the greatest examples, D-Day and Operation Desert Storm :

19. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable;
when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we
are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away;
when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

20. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder,
and crush him.

Maybe that is the grand master plan of the Democratic Party. Not only does the left not have the heart to fight the War on Terror and in Iraq, the Face, Sheehan, quits and protest numbers are down. Is feigning no will a bait?