Iraqi-U.S. forces aim to win by not doing battle
U.S. military advisers rolled into the Iraqi military camp (in Amarah) on Saturday expecting the assault to begin Monday on one of the last strongholds of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Instead of gearing up for battle, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are spending days idling, seeking shelter from the 115-degree heat and howling dust storms.
“The government doesn’t want a big battle and a lot of bloodshed, so they tell the enemy beforehand,” says Gen. Hussein al-Awadi, who is in charge of the paramilitary force of 40,000. “If we can do this without fighting, the people will support us more.”
“We’re sending a message to the citizens not to be afraid, that we’re here, we’re strong, and we can protect you,” (Iraqi Army General Hussein) al-Awadi says. “And we have a message for the militias that we are here, we are powerful, and we can fight you.”
To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.
-Sun Tzu
More than two thousand five hundred years old, and his advice still holds good. Is there any better definition of true genius?
Or any better evidence that maybe there is such a thing as human nature whose core doesn’t change even if cultural and socio-economic circumstances allow for the development of yet undiscovered quirks and depths?