From: wolfone@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Patrick Chester)
Newsgroups: alt.activism,alt.desert-storm,alt.politics.clinton
Subject: Re: **** ANOTHER COVER-UP - Please read this... ****
Date: 5 Oct 92 04:25:14 GMT
Followup-To: alt.activism
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX

In article <1992Sep29.224443.14036@oracle.us.oracle.com> rchilder@us.oracle.com (Richard Childers) writes:
)mccullou@cae.wisc.edu (Mark McCullough) writes:
)
)
)
)>a very major fundamental difference: Iraq was the aggressor.  They invaded
)>Kuwait.  The US intervened to stop this invasion.  For a better comparison,
)
)Save me the party line. Think for yourself.
You only think for yourself if you don't agree with the party line? It is
impossible to think on your own and come to agree with it because of personal
belief? Oh, you're just following the second law of politics, right? You know:
"all of your opponent's followers are brainwashed."
)
)>soldiers.  Okay, you can go to the hundreds of families and explain to
)>them why a certain soldier won't be coming home, because you were more
)>worried about using conventional strategies than minimizing casualties.
)>Why in some military groups, that idea could lose you your command, if
)>not all.  A commander with that attitude _should_ be relieved of command.
)
)I refer you to a military classic widely regarded throughout the world.
)It's called _The Art Of War_, attributed to an individual named Sun Tzu,
)whose existence cannot be authenticated but whose writings were revered by
)American generals and Mao Tse Tung, alike.
)
)He has some harsh things to say about your kind of attitude.
Sun Tzu wrote that you should care very deeply for the soldiers who fight for
you and to try and keep as many of them alive as possible. Then you start to
consider the lives of your enemy's soldiers and find a way to win without 
killing all of them. You know:"Better to keep an army intact than to destroy 
it. Better to keep a division intact than to destroy it," and on down the 
chain of command. This can be taken to mean that to get an army to surrender,
you might have to destroy some smaller units to convince the rest that to 
resist is futile. No Sun Tzu was not a Borg :). He also said that the civil 
government should have nothing to do with military affairs. How does that
sound? Pretty autocratic, eh? But true.

Sun Tzu would agree with Mark, I think. When trying to minimize casualties in
war, you look to your own people first. Otherwise they might not fight very
well for you. I refer you to another military classic. It's called _Mastering_
_the Art of War_, translated by Cleary. It is a series of commentaries by two
generals who fought in ancient China. Basically, it is a guide to strategy
and leadership. You might find it interesting. Shambala (sp?) Press prints
it as well as an edition of _The Art of War_. Pick it up.

)
)-- richard
)
)-- 
)=====
)-- richard childers		rchilder@us.oracle.com		1 415 506 2411
)         oracle data center  --  unix systems & network administration
)                    Klein flask for rent. Inquire within.

Murphy's Laws of Combat #1:"Before you enter battle, stack the deck."
"Hey! That's not Law #1!"
Murphy's Laws of Combat #1:"Priorities are man-made, not God-given."
;>
-- 
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Patrick Chester            |"The earth is too fragile a basket in which to keep
wolfone@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu |  all your eggs." Robert A. Heinlein
Politically Incorrect      |"The meek shall inherit the earth. The rest of us
Future Lunar Colonist      |  are going to the stars." Anonymous
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