Sun Tzu speaks to the American People regarding Afghanistan
November 12, 2009There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his Army:–
(1) By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army.
(2) By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier’s minds.
(3) By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances. This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.
But when the army is restless and distrustful, trouble is sure to come from the other feudal princes. This is simply bringing anarchy into the army, and flinging victory away.
Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:
(1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
(3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
(4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
(5) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.
Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.
If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
Roy Ryder :
Date: November 12, 2009
Wow. This is a powerful condemnation of Obama’s ineptitude and poor leadership that reaches across time from over 2500 years ago. Obama knows not the enemy or himself. He has hobbled the military by issuing orders that cannot be accmplished. He has attempted to run the military in the same political way he mismanages the nation. He is entirely ignorant of military matters and stategy.
He knows neither the enemy nor himself.
And the American soldiers will pay for this ignorance in blood.
MadBrad :
Date: November 12, 2009
I had a better piece that I managed to leave at home last night, but nobody does as good a job as Sun Tzu himself.
Among the lessons he illustrates…
“By employing the officers of his army without discrimination (Major Hasan), through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances (Fighting Muslim Terrorists). This shakes the confidence of the soldiers”.