Obana is Ignoring Sun Tzu's Advice on Warfare: We Cannot Succeed If This Continues. Part 1.

Back in the '80s, every business in America was requiring managers to read "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu. The book became one of the best selling books in the business category. God forbid anyone would look at the text historically. Maybe Reagan did. It and the Clausewitz three volume treatise were both listed in his library. One would have assumed that Carter was at least familiar with the concepts but his actions belie that assumption.

But let's look at a few of the concepts Obama and his administration as well as the State Department are ignoring to their and our peril. (By "our" I mean the average American who wants his country to be the best, most prosperous, most free and the basis for the most opportunity in the world. The "US" that doesn't mean United States.)

The whole treatise in a translation by Lionel Giles, reads like an outline. Of interest is the commentary added by other military strategists. Like another famous Chinese book called the "I Ching," there is a main text and commentary that almost dwarfs the original concepts. The commentary often "interprets" the original statement. Sometimes these interpretations end up changing the view off the original into something with a completely opposite meaning. Think of them like Constitutional Scholars who somehow derive the ability to control and eliminate the right to bear arms from a reading of the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

Here's a link to a source of all governmental documents. Included are links to commentaries and an especially interesting one is the link attached to "to keep and bear arms." If you follow this link, you will see all kinds of letters and commentary and supporting sources behind this phrase. The drafters of these documents wrote each other and argued over every phrase. So the intent is clear. But follow the links, they are an interesting read.

http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&documentid=13524

So back to Obama's actions in light of Sun Tzu's treatise:

There are some "rules" that have no bearing unless one extrapolates a meaning from the statement. For example, "When a fire breaks out inside to (sic) enemy's camp, respond at once with an attack from without." Obviously this is tactical advice and one wouldn't currently expect actual camps where accidental fires break out from time to time. But if this is interpreted as: "Attack your enemy when they show any sign of weakness." we have something that can have value. Or, If your enemy is distracted for any reason, that is when you strike (Read my posts: "Can America Survive 24/7 news" for a view of what distraction can lead to politically.) you have something that can have value at any time. Outside of a few small thinkers, business is not war. Of course, businesspeople fancy themselves everything but what they are because in final analysis, sitting at a desk or in front of a computer or operating a cash register is pretty boring stuff. So one would expect sales motivators to try to get toothpaste salesmen or copier salesmen or office supply salesmen to think they operate the same as some of the most profound military minds. But it's all fantasy. Where the president is concerned, however, it isn't fantasy and the rules codified by Sun Tzu have value and are pertinent.

According the Sun Tzu, the art of war is governed by five factors. These should be taken into consideration when evaluating the battle arena. They are:

1. Moral Law - People must be in complete accord with their ruler so they can accept danger and still follow.

2. Heaven - All times, seasons and climate must be factored into decision making.

3. Earth - Distances, security, layout of the terrain and life and death.

4. Commander - Virtues: Wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness.

5. Method and Discipline - Accurately using forces at one's disposal, ranks within the forces, maintenance and supply, transportation and finances required to sustain any endeavor.

I can't think of a single factor that Obama has considered in making proposals. Obviously with health care, he ignored that most people were not in accord (1. Moral Law) with his plan. With the stimulus, he ignored alternatives that could have saved billions and been more effective.

When it comes to times (2. Heaven) Obama certainly hasn't factored in time and conditions when making his proposals. To a small group, there may be benefit in the short term but in the long term, there will be lots of damage to a large group. In this sense, Obama should take a lesson taught by Confucius and also indicated by the I Ching: Helping someone by lessening yourself helps neither the person needing help nor the person offering the help. Parity and/or equality cannot be achieved by destroying a wealthy person so that everyone is poor. Obama's idea of "spreading it around" takes from those that have in an attempt to balance everyone by giving to those that don't have. According to at least two influential Chinese sources, he's got it dead wrong.

According the Sun Tzu, "All warfare is based on deception." Obama, please read the book and use it for more than a door jamb. (Actually it's so thin that it would have to be folded in half to stop a door.) Pull out dates or dates when forces are taken out of combat roles should never be broadcast. Those dates should be determined by Generals in the theater and only be assigned after hostilities have generally ended and the remaining belligerents can be handled by occupation forces. Then and only then should departure dates be discussed and NEVER made public. After all, the president's job is to ensure we don't get attacked but it can happen and when it does, it's his job to unleash the war hounds and keep them unleashed until all threat is completely nullified. Anything less courts disaster according to Sun Tzu.

"There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare." The Vietnam experience should be a guide: Get in, achieve your military goals, secure the battle arena and render the enemy unable to continue. Then and only then can one divert resources to rebuild the damage. The two cannot be done at the same time. It's financially impossible and the financial drain on the people of the state will make any just cause seem unjustified. As people suffer, Sun Tzu cautions: "With this loss of substance and exhaustion of strength, the homes of the people will be stripped bare, and three-tenths of their income will be dissipated; while government expenses for broken chariots, worn-out horses, breast-plates and helmets, bows and arrows, spears and shields, protective mantles, draught-oxen and heavy wagons, will amount to four-tenths of its total revenue."

Now what other meaning can we attach to this? Because of ongoing war expenses and the expenses of plans Obama has initiated, the value of American currency is in danger. Obama is allocating tremendous resources that are draining our country not only of funds but of will. If people stop believing in the cause of the leader, we get back to Moral Law. Without the support of the populace, all the lies and misconceptions offered by the state will soon be discovered. Then the state loses authority and cannot sustain regardless of how lofty its motives.

Sun Tzu states that: "There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army:

"1. By commannding the army to advance or to retreat (Departure dates.) being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army."

If you don't think our army is hobbled, check out the plethora of Rules Of Engagement (ROEs) that shower down from above. There are so many and they are so confusing that Field officers don't even pass most of them down.

"2. By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being iggnorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier's minds."

First of all, the only thing Obama has successfully run is his campaign and he had plenty of help to do that. He knows not of military matters and he appears unable to learn from history. He can't learn from history because he is hell bent to "try out" his ideology on America and truth or facts will not deter him from his myopic attempt to "level" the global playing field.

"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."

Could we really have Generals like Patton, Bradly, MacArthur, Grant, Lee, Pershing, Eisenhower today? No. While an Eisenhower might make the grade, a Patton would never be allowed to operate as independently as he did. As a matter of fact, he had a hard time even in WWII. We have done away with the commander in place of administrators who fit into the current version of Command and Control. That absolutely limits what a commander can do in the field.

Back in the hunt for OBL, we actually had him in our sights with snipers ready to take him out and we also had some missiles standing by to make sure he was gone. But nobody could act and the field troops had to wait for a presidential approval to complete the mission. While they waited, the opportunity evaporated.

In Mogadishu, everything was controlled via drone observance and field troops were left waiting for approval to do almost every action. The Special Forces snipers who received the MOH, might be alive had they been allowed to infiltrate when they first requested. Because of the delay, belligerents were able to mass and organize. Meanwhile, the commanders were miles away watching drone cameras.

Now, neither of these were under Obama's watch but Obama is operating as if these were successful operations. He has effectively turned generals into mid-level bureaucrats in and effort that basically "hobbles" the army.

Sun Tzu advises: "In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory." and "Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more."

What could he mean by these statements? Battles can be won but wars lost. We experienced this in Vietnam and partly in Korea. In Vietnam, the American forces virtually won every battlefield encounter but America did not have the political will to apply indirect pressure on the enemy. Instead, our enemy used indirect pressure first through student uprisings, sympathetic Americans and finally our own press to sap the energy we needed as a country to win. What is Obama following? A philosophy and strategy of our enemies. Instead of using indirect methods to isolate and make our enemies irrelevant, we are elevating them to equals. We do this by announcing that at a certain date, we will end hostilities or that we so hobble our troops that our enemy has the chance to apply indirect methods to us. What would they use? It's simple. In America, we have political correctness that forces us to accept anything an enemy might say as if it has the same level of credence as our Constitution. So we have Imam's and other Muslim leaders gaming our system against us and decrying "religious freedom" when Islam is the most restrictive religion on the face of the planet. They even have us making statement like, "Radical Muslims are the same as Fundamentalists Christians." when nothing could be further from the truth. But this indirect method allows some of us to feel superior to the others and divides our resolve.

Sun Tzu cautioned about divided resolve and I will deal with that in Part 2.