But the Art of War is a different kind of book. Fans of the book will tell you it influences military as well as corporate leaders for centuries. To be honest, I use the teachings in my classroom as an educator. Periodically I will be giving my smug and feeble attempts at intellectually based opinions on parts of the book and its impact today. This will kick into overdrive over the summer as I try to keep my grey matter stirring.
SUN TZU ON THE ART OF WAR
I. LAYING PLANS
1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance
to the State.
Sadly, if we do not know how to defend ourselves, we will be eradicated. A soon-to-be classic example is Clinton's lack of effort in defending our nation during his terms. Had Clinton really done something about Sadaam after the attempt on Bush 41 or taken out Bin Laden, he could have a real legacy. But in a fashion that the current Democrats are using, they choose the "wait and see" appraoch. Wait out a leaders life span and see what happens. It reeks of courage and compassion for basic human rights.
2. It is a matter of life and death, a road either
to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry
which can on no account be neglected.
The first sentence says it best. We live in another time when evil wants us dead. If 9/11 did not convince you of that, look at the attacks on Spain and the UK where they went after civilian targets.
3. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant
factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations,
when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.
4. These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth;
(4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline.
5,6. The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete
accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him
regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.
Look at the outright lack of respect Bill Clinton had from the military going into his term and out of it. His unapologetic role in the Vietnam protests cost him the support needed to be an effective Commander-in-Chief. The pure professionalism of our troops was exhibited by their following of orders going to fight upon his orders.
7. Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat,
times and seasons.
You must look at the all variables going into any conflict verbal or physical. This could be a point for those who have criticized the war plan going into Iraq. Whether or not we had enough troops on the ground will be a debate for the ages.
8. Earth comprises distances, great and small;
danger and security; open ground and narrow passes;
the chances of life and death.
9. The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom,
sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness.
Goes back to the that Clinton thing. Some will bemoan GW's lack of morals for the "immoral" war in Iraq. But the war is not "immoral," thus I find that argument flawed from inception. There is a simple honest courage in GW. He may not go down as our greatest President, that goes to Teddy. Alas, it will a take a couple editions of hisotry textbooks to bring his courage and will to take on evil men and women in the War on Terror.
10. By method and discipline are to be understood
the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions,
the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance
of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the
control of military expenditure.
This is an important aspect. Our military is one of the most disciplined and moral armies on the planet. Do have rogues and criminals in the midst? Of course we do. But we have them also as teachers and in government service, Republican and Democrat.
Another criticism of the war effort has the been the lack of armament for our troops. The MRAP, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, is a another adaption to combat and will reinforce the legitimacy of this rule.
Please feel free to agree or disagree with my humble thoughts. I hope to improve my writing and research abilities as I progress.
8 comments:
For what it is worth, I agree!
Just some quotes I want to share with you from Richard Clarke's Against All Enemies:
"When Clinton left office many people, including the incoming Bush administration, thought that he and his administration were overly obsessed with al Qaeda....In January 2001, the new administration really thought Clinton's recommendation that eliminating al Qaeda be one of their highest priorities, well, rather odd, like so many of the Clinton administration's actions, from their perspective." (p. 225-26)
"Although Bush had heard about al Qaeda in intelligence reports before [9/11] he had spent little time learning about the sources and nature of the movement." (p. 244)
Cheers.
good reply, but why was no action really taken? It didn't help Sandy Berger destroyed classified documents pertaining their "obsession." But they could have been botched cookie recipes as far as we know.
One element our government failed to do was recognize the determination of our al-Quada. But I'll talk about that later.
Hope everything is settled south of the equator jungle mom
please disregard the word "our" next to al-quada. I do not want some nutjob thinking we were behind 9/11 and they work for us. I'm sure there is enough of that on the net. I am usually typng with three screaming kids in the background. If you could look behind me right now, one hitting his brother while the other rings a bicycle bell.
Let's tear the roof off this sucker!
hiyaz Obob...Our military is one of the most disciplined and moral armies on the planet...and that no one emphasizes!
"Hope everything is settled south of the equator jungle mom"
Not sure I understand that one.
jungle mom is a missionary in South America
excellent, o'bob - excellent. you're on it.
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