On War

In this chapter, Sun Tzu talks about the general rules one should follow when waging war. On of his main points deals with the length of campaigns. He states: "When employing them in battle, a victory that is long and coming will blunt their weapons and dampen their ardor." He is saying that the most practical way to win an engagement is to do it as quickly as possible. When it comes to the conflicts in the Middle East, we seem to have been ignoring this advice. It has been 8 years since the campaign in the Middle East began. At first, it had the support of the public and of the troops. However, the longer it drags on, the fewer people support it.

Sun Tzu also talks in this chapter of winning the hearts of the enemy. he says: "Treat the captured soldiers well in order to nurture them for our use." This mostly applies to our treatment of Iraqi and Afghani civilians. We have been bringing them aid and helping them to rebuild their villages and cities in an attempt to get them to swing their allegiances from the Taliban and al-Qaeda to us.