Sun Tzu, The Art of War and the War on Terrorism

[FBM]

I'm neither a historian nor a military person, but when I analyze, with my rudimentary knowledge, the "War on Terrorism" by the principles described in Sun Tzu's Art of War, I get the feeling that the terrorists are following them a lot better than the Western allies are. For example:

1) The Western forces seem to be emphasizing attrition over intelligence. IOW, still fighting the last war. Throwing money (weapons, supplies, etc) and personnel at the problem, relying on the deep pockets of the American taxpayer, etc.

2) The Western forces seem to be more focused on proving they're right and capitalizing on the victim status than winning the war. IOW, the West seems unwilling to dismiss convention for the sake of success.

3) The terrorists seem to be have made a huge impact with minimal resources. Their propaganda campaign seems much more effective, as there seems to be no shortage of recruits. Even moderate Muslims who disagree with their tactics and philosophy are sitting on their hands, probably out of fear. The US, however, is having to bend every rule it can to keep up its numbers. Extending tours of duty, recalling active vets, etc.

4) The terrorists seem to know more about us than we know about them. They have our psychology; we don't have theirs. Shades of Vietnam?

I admit that I'm very ignorant on what's happening behind the curtains on both sides, but it seems that the guerrilla tactics applied by Al Qaeda, et al, mesh more closely with what Sun Tzu taught than those of the West. What am I not seeing in this picture?

The dramatized, hyped version for those who don't want to read through all the archaic language in the link above:


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe1rfMpB ... re=related[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeBohmXp ... re=related[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj5WxDdQ ... re=related[/youtube]

etc, etc. You can find the rest at Youtube, if you're interested.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"All else being equal, you fight the war you were trained to fight." We do need to get over that.

[Trolldor]

Master Sun-Tzu's art of war is sitting on a pair of week-old track pants in my room. Bet he didn't think that would happen in the future.

"When the army of a Great King
Attacks a powerful state,
He does not allow the enemy to concentrate his forces.
He overawes the enemy
And undermines his alliances."

[FBM]

"All else being equal, you fight the war you were trained to fight." We do need to get over that.

Seems that the West is under-utilizing psychology. I think Sun Tzu would send planes over Afghanistan, Jerusalem, etc, to spray pig blood over as many mosques and holy sites as possible. War is about winning, not playing by the rules. Fuck 'em, they started it.

Master Sun-Tzu's art of war is sitting on a pair of week-old track pants in my room. Bet he didn't think that would happen in the future.

"When the army of a Great King
Attacks a powerful state,
He does not allow the enemy to concentrate his forces.
He overawes the enemy
And undermines his alliances."

Seems to be very similar to what has happened in the past 8~9 years, eh? The Allies are spread out all over Afghanistan and Iraq, aren't (officially) allowed in Pakistan for political reasons that stem from the Pakistani fear of their own fundies, which listen to Bin Laden.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"All else being equal, you fight the war you were trained to fight." We do need to get over that.

Seems that the West is under-utilizing psychology. I think Sun Tzu would send planes over Afghanistan, Jerusalem, etc, to spray pig blood over as many mosques and holy sites as possible. War is about winning, not playing by the rules. Fuck 'em, they started it.

Master Sun-Tzu's art of war is sitting on a pair of week-old track pants in my room. Bet he didn't think that would happen in the future.

"When the army of a Great King
Attacks a powerful state,
He does not allow the enemy to concentrate his forces.
He overawes the enemy
And undermines his alliances."

Seems to be very similar to what has happened in the past 8~9 years, eh? The Allies are spread out all over Afghanistan and Iraq, aren't (officially) allowed in Pakistan for political reasons that stem from the Pakistani fear of their own fundies, which listen to Bin Laden.

The West is always under-utilizing psychology IMHO. "The battle is won before the first shot is fired" doesn't appeal to the guys with the bright shiny toys.

[FBM]

The West is always under-utilizing psychology IMHO. "The battle is won before the first shot is fired" doesn't appeal to the guys with the bright shiny toys.

It sure as fuck doesn't appeal to the people whose paychecks depend on the number of bullets and bombs they manufacture, eh?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The West is always under-utilizing psychology IMHO. "The battle is won before the first shot is fired" doesn't appeal to the guys with the bright shiny toys.

It sure as fuck doesn't appeal to the people whose paychecks depend on the number of bullets and bombs they manufacture, eh?

Or to the folks who get to make BANG!!!!! for the evening news.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"I think I won!"

[Feck]

Try this ? http://www.comw.org/rma/fulltext/asymmetric.html

[FBM]

The West is always under-utilizing psychology IMHO. "The battle is won before the first shot is fired" doesn't appeal to the guys with the bright shiny toys.

It sure as fuck doesn't appeal to the people whose paychecks depend on the number of bullets and bombs they manufacture, eh?

Or to the folks who get to make BANG!!!!! for the evening news.

The War Industry, Mass Media, Big Oil, Food, Inc and the politicians that are in their pockets are more of a problem than the fucking Muslims, IMO. I'd like to see the Muslims try to take over Possum Neck, Mississippi.

[FBM]

Try this ? http://www.comw.org/rma/fulltext/asymmetric.html

Bullseye, dude.

[Trolldor]

What we're seeing is the result of the history of Warfare for different cultures. It's the World Wars vs 'Tunnel Rats'.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

What we're seeing is the result of the history of Warfare for different cultures. It's the World Wars vs 'Tunnel Rats'.

"Desert Rats".

Two different styles of war fighting. Each effective in it's own arena, but less so outside that arena. We're using Abrams as mobile pillboxes and SP artillery. But you have to get out of the damn things to search a house. Then it dumbs down to man v. man. If we can get smarter on the hot man-on-man action we might still win this.

[RuleBritannia]

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.

Number five is my biggest frustration, fucking politicians constantly sticking their noses in. If the army commanders want more soldiers, give it to them, if they want more tanks, give in to them, if they want more money, sign the fucking cheque book.

[FBM]

There are a buttload of Muslims who can assimilate seamlessly into Western societies, but hardly any Western people who can enter into a Muslim country without attracting a shitload of attention. In general, Western people are far too arrogant and lazy to do the hard work of learning a non-Western language (though I'm sure a larger percentage of Ratzians are polyglots) and plunging deeply into a non-Western worldview. This is our Achilles' heel. One of them, anyway. We've got several, seems.