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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: smolejv@gmx.net who wrote (140412)	7/15/2004 11:43:29 AM
From: Sun Tzu	Respond to of 281500

From the Art of War (sadly all of these top 10 lessons are lost on some): 1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State. 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. [I wonder how much inquiry went into weather or not this war should be waged] 2. In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them. [hmmm...seems to say that blowing up a big block to get at a few enemies is not such a good thing and most certainly allowing the enemy army to "melt away" without being retired is a very bad thing] 3. Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field. [It is official, ours is not a supreme commander!] 4. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. [Weren't the sanctions doing that?] 5. Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays. [Oh my! ...something for everyone] 6. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. [I had to emphasize this one, seeing how we are being prepared to be in Iraq for years to come] 7. It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on. [I guess saving our airspace from the invading Mexicans does not qualify] 8. Contributing to maintain an army at a distance causes the people to be impoverished. [To the tune of over $500B, at the very least] 9. All warfare is based on deception. 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. [Now why didn't you say this before?! We did not expect to face this kind of resistance] 10. In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. [I just thought it was important enough to repeat it] Sun Tzu