Military Strategy Quote of the Day

"The highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans. The next best option, he continues, "is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces. The next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field. And the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities. The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided."

- Sun Tzu, from "The Art of War"

Consider this article from the L.A. Times on the history of sieges on cities as The Coalition of the Willing begins to encircle Bagdad. It's not pretty, and not for the reasons you might expect.

Battle Hymn
According to the Austrialian Broadcast Company's news wire, an evangelical Christian organization, In Touch Ministries, has been distributing pamphlets to U.S. Marines in Iraq. The pamphlet contains instructions on how to pray for George W. Bush, and a tear-off response card that they can mail to the White House to indicate that they have been appealing to the Almighty on behalf of their commander-in-chief.
My first question, which the Aussies don't answer, is this: HOW are these things getting to the Marines on the battlefield, and who is responsible?
But, barring that, as both a Christian and a baby libertarian, I'm always very troubled by the people who want to associate religious significance to military actions. On the surface, it would seem as comical as the Holy Hand Gernade of Monty Python fame, but, it runs dangerously close to becoming the New Millenium Crusades. Then again, it's not like anyone ever needed an excuse to unleash the dogs of war. Consider Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name Of": George Bush actually has large chunks of the American people deluded into believing that our forces are killing to preserve peace.