Let us once again consult Sun Tzu:
Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.
Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed on him.
We must hold the offensive to succeed.
A bit of a contradiction, here.
We must hold the offensive to succeed.
Ummm…that’s not quite what the venerable warmaster is saying, Frank. More like “make your enemy play by your rules” than anything else. True, that sometimes means taking and holding the offensive – but it can also mean choosing your battles, and battlegrounds, so as to gain the greatest advantage (ie. defending wisely).
i think this is especially appropriate in light of Michell Malkin’s post about the GOP convention
Sun Tzu is saying that we meet the enemy on our terms not his.
This happened by accident at Gettyburg. Think how John Buford set up the situation and with Reynolds’ Corps stopped the Army of Northern Virgina from digging in on the heights overlooking the town.
Sun Tzu is much more insightful and easier to read than Clausewitz. Read his book, there are several translations available, some with execellent commentaries.
Meanwhile, continue to gather weapons and ammunition in military calibers.
“We must hold the offensive to succeed.” Well, the Japanese attacked first (Pearl Harbor), yet they
lost the war. Napoleon attacked first, and he lost the war(s). Dubya’s attack on Iraq has made us a loss less safe than before — at least to judge from all the Administration’s
warnings of impending attacks. (Unless of course these warnings are just meant to keep up the level of hysteria.)
As for Sun Tzu… It’s always amusing to see
ideologues putting a veneer of respectability on their bankrupt ideas by attributing them to dead people who can’t defend themselves — Sun Tzu, the Founding Fathers,
the Bible, what have you.
When engaging the enemy in combat,
fight on your own terms.
When the enemy engages you in combat,
fight on your own terms.
Hey, I took my shot at it. Maybe I missed; I was groggy 🙂
Everytime I read or hear “bankrupt” applied to an abstract noun, I think of Hans Gruber from Die Hard.
This is where I’m supposed to compare you to a terrorists, but they weren’t terrorists, just thieves. EXCELLENT thieves.
Sure, W.R.X. Compare me to “a terrorists”
if you like. Doesn’t change reality an iota. Reality is this: you call yourself a conservative, but support the destruction of everything that conservatives have stood for — fiscal responsibility, small government, states rights, individual freedoms, you name it. All because you can’t let go from the fantasy that the puppet in the White House is the savior of mankind.
Silvio Levy
Sun Tzu also speaks of the financial needs for warfare, and “sustained” warfare where occupation is the order of the day.
In these issues we are m essing up terribly.
Sun Tzu also speaks of attacking the enemy in it’s heart. Since we are in a war with Islam we either strike Mecca and be done with, or we strike the families of terrorist to send a very cruel but well understood message.
Instead we are being politiced to death.
I try to make a joke and you focus on the typo.
actually, i think it means something like “get to the rock concert early so you can nap during the opening act.”
Looks like our often ‘Misunderestimated’ President is a scholar of Sun Tzu.
As long as President Bush sticks to his guns on killing the Clinton Gun Ban and Stem Cell Research. The Conservatives will cast their votes for him in droves.
Silvio is projecting a bit.
Silvio says you call yourself a conservative, but support the destruction of everything that conservatives have stood for — fiscal responsibility, small government, states rights, individual freedoms, you name it.
Good gawd, can you read minds? That’s amazing!
American Translation: Hit ’em where thay ain’t.