Sun Tzu said:
"The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected."
Indeed. It seems disappointing that the Bush Administration and much of the public have lacked the courage to properly address all points and issues associated with our war on terror and with the contingents of the Iraqi people. If this war can be anything it must be understood, mistakes identified and lessons remembered.
Sun Tzu continues:
"There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, the men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength. In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns. This may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril."
The outcome of this war is balanced on the shoulders of the Bush Administration, let us all be clear on that. Our war has already cost us over 700 soldiers and hundreds of billions of dollars. We as a people must ask ourselves has the strain been worth the resources. Such is our system that we can change our leadership every four years with the cast of a ballot. Other peoples have not been so lucky.
Sun Tzu continues:
"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. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. 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."
We must decide if the stratagem employed by our administration was up to task. It is entirely fair for the people of our nation to remove a leader for incompetence in the field. Only the very gifted deserve to be the leaders of great nations and it is up to the people of great nations to follow great leaders. Political ideologies aside has our current administration shown true talent in conducting this war of ours. Is the role of leader in our country limited to political ideologies? I should hope not, for this will lead only to ruin.
Sun Tzu continues:
"What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease. Hence his victories bring him neither reputation for wisdom nor credit for courage. He wins his battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory. The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success."
Sir Robert Grainger Ker Thompson adds:
"There is a very strong temptation...for government forces to act outside the law, the excuses being that the processes of law are too cumbersome, that the normal safeguards in the law for the individual are not designed for an insurgency and that a terrorist deserves to be treated as and outlaw anyway. Not only is this morally wrong, but, over a period, it will create more practical difficulties for a government than it solves. A government which does not act in accordance with the law forfeits the right to be called a government and cannot expect it people to obey the law. Functioning in accordance with the law is a very small price to pay in return for the advantage of being the government."
How often people have cried out at the indignities and atrocities of armies. Particularity sharp in our national conscience are the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany and the continued human rights violations in Africa. How stinging is has been for the American people to hear such charges levied against our troops. Abu Grahib has hurt the moral of our nation more than our administration has admitted. It was said to young German men during World War II that; "Be brave, get to the front, and surrender to the first American you see." Believe it or not this mind set saved thousands of American troops' lives. How I would scold the leader of our free people to allow such a scandal to manifest, it is his duty to maintain the discipline and method of our attacking armies.
To those who shame those that question our war I say the shame belongs to you. Ideologies of leaders must encompass their abilities to wage war, our current leader has certainly lacked the ability of a great leader. It is time for our nation to seek out and find great leaders, but first it is our responsibility to remove bad ones.
JD Brenny
