You must have had a school bully, right? Appeasement didn't work. However, if you are the strongest kid in school and you want to remain in some position of dominance or keep other, meaner people at bay, then you'd better recognize that people who don't identify you as their ally may recognize you as a target. The terminology one uses represents a mind set.
If you simply don't care about the human conditions in the world, then an isolationist approach works. If you are going to try to reverse the crises, then you'd better be well armed. Being well armed doesn't mean you plan to attack and kill your enemy to the last man - best to recruit them and then corrupt them with your philosophy and their personal gain... Not my goofy idea...
If the US created the International Year of Islam and backed it with gifts then every attacker of the US would be an infidel!
From Sun Zhu:
Generally, in war the best policy is to take a state intact; to ruin it is inferior to this. To capture the enemy's entire army is better than to destroy it; to take intact a regiment, a company, or a squad is better than to destroy them. For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence.
Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy. Next best is to disrupt his alliances by diplomacy. The next best is to attack his army. And the worst policy is to attack cities. Attack cities only when there is no alternative because to prepare big shields and wagons and make ready the necessary arms and equipment require at least three months, and to pile up earthen ramps against the walls requires an additional three months. The general, unable to control his impatience, will order his troops to swarm up the wall like ants, with the result that one-third of them will be killed without taking the city. Such is the calamity of attacking cities.
Thus, those skilled in war subdue the enemy's army without battle. They capture the enemy's cities without assaulting them and overthrow his state without protracted operations. Their aim is to take all under heaven intact by strategic considerations. Thus, their troops are not worn out and their gains will be complete. This is the art of offensive strategy. |
