Discussing Sun Tzu in the Past and Present

“There never has been a protracted war from which a country has benefitted (especially not a war at a great distance). Sun Tzu.

Sun Tzu’s guiding point is the necessity of attacking the enemies’ Grand Strategy.

Sun Tzu: “Abolish superstition.”

Sun Tzu says: Know your enemy; know yourself, know the terrain.

Sun Tzu says: All warfare is rooted in deception.

Sun Tzu urges: Take the state intact. Do not destroy the state, nor the Army.

“...A general (who) regards his men as infants, they will march him into the deepest valleys. He treats them as his own beloved sons and they will die with him....the general must be first in the toils and fatigues of the army. ..in dangerous places he must dismount and walk...he waits until the army’s wells are dug before he drinks.” (Sun Tzu).

Sun Tzu insists: disrupt the enemies’ alliances.

Sun Tzu: the high moral ground, that is, morale, is key in warfare.

Sun Tzu: Feed on the enemy. Obviously, the enemy feeds on the US.

Why then, can the empire not engage with Sun Tzu?

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Rich Gibson, rg@richgibson.com, is a professor emeritus at San Diego State University