Nice.
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International Burn a Qu'ran Day
- Thread starter usmarinemike
- Start date
Wall Street?
I look at Sun Tsu as more like reading the Principles of War (or Joint Operations as they are called in our doctrine). Complex and sometimes abstract concepts boiled down to a few sentences. Sun Tsu can be used as "reminders" to what is important when planning and conducting operations.
Old Dead Carl provides in-depth explanations to his thoughts, so reading ON WAR will give the reader more information but is tough to get through. (18th century Prussian being translated into 21st centure English)
But I believe that senior officers (both cil and mil) can learn from Sun Tsu. Understanding the role of the military in support of the state is captured in both books.
I think both books are great for showing how the charecter of war may have changed over the centuries, but the nature of war has not changed.
If you're a big fan of Sun Tzu's style of boiling down complexity into simplicity, I'd also recommend Kautilya. He was a teacher of Chandragupta, the Indian emperor who unified the whole country in the 4th Century BC. He was a more blunt advocate of manipulation and realpolitik than even our Italian friend. Very interesting if you can get a hold of his writings. He's best known for the Arthasastra, a political work similar to The Prince. He has even less pretense of humanity than Machiavelli. Quite entertaining, especially if you like Darth Vader-style political maneuvering.
phrogpilot73
Well-Known Member
I agree that it's tough to get through, no more so than your typical Keegan book (and Keegan is writing in English!). You want a huge insight to an insurgency that is redonkulously difficult to get through? That would be How We Won The War by Vo Nguyen Giap.
And yes, I'm that guy that actually reads stuff that's on the Commandant's reading list (How We Won The War used to be, but it's not anymore)
I don't think they will really learn that much, again - I think it should be read at the level the USMC suggests it. I would hope that a senior officer will have read and/or learned from Sun Tzu prior to being senior officers.
Agree wholeheartedly with this.
While I feel she's entitled to her own opinion, I still want to kick her in the face for having this specific one.
To me, it's more in the realm of disposing of trash or destruction of sensitive material. It's not like the green Waste Management recycling truck pulls up to the gate in Bagram to take waste paper to the recycling center. Framing this as book burning is a red herring, and this columnist knows it.
Brett
Brett
It's always interesting how our enemies pull the religion card whenever its handy for them. These Korans more being written in by the detainees in order to pass messages, which is probably a form of desecration, yet once they're intercepted, it's our fault for destroying them. Kind of like using a minaret as a sniper platform, then complaining when we return fire at a mosque.
