Rules of war change

As the president ponders what to do in Afghanistan, I cannot but wonder how he feels, now that his war is unpopular. In making his decision, I hope he considers the following from Sun Tzu:

He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the soveregin (government).

In war then, let your great objective be victory, not long campaigns.

There is no instance of a great country having benefited from prolonged warfare.

If a campaign is protracted, the resources of the state will not equal the strain.

War changed when morality was introduced into the equation. That certainly guarantees defeat, because every war since Korea has been against insurgents. Guerrilla warfare negates Sun Tzu's "The Art of War." In guerrilla warfare, there is no great army. There are a handful of insurgents, blending in with the populace and gaining their support, either through food and money or fear and threats. The key factor in guerrilla strategy is a drawn-out, protracted conflict, that will wear down the will of the opposition. Democracies are especially vulnerable! Impatient demands for victory, centered around electoral cycles, play into the hands of the guerrillas. One hundred thousand or 200,000 troops will not win the war in Afghanistan because the rules of engagement do not allow the death of civilians by our forces. Until that changes, we will only be sending troops into harm's way with little chance of victory.

I wonder how Attila, Hannibal and Napoleon would handle this situation.

-- JOHN E. FEDELE JR., Salina

Retired Air Force

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?????? says....
There is a instance of a country benefiting from a prolonged war. America benefited greatly from WW II. And when did the journal go liberal with this pull-out business??? Just contradicting Obama doesn't mean it's the conservative answer. And it is not his war...if this is such a prolonged war and he has been in office less than a year...hhhmmmm. If you are going to write a conservative piece then do it. If you are going to write a liberal piece then do that. But do us all a favor and get your politics in order before you write and throw the dart board away.
11/22/2009

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