The Art of War - A Critique

A voice from the past

The military is a great matter of the state.

It is the grounds of life and death,

The Tao of survival and extinction.

One cannot but examine it.

Thus begins one of the oldest and most revered text of Asian literature, the Sun Tzu, commonly known in the West as the Art of War. On the surface it is a treatize on the stratagems used on the ancient battlefields of the often fractured kingdoms of ancient China, but a deeper examination of the verse-like text reveals something altogether more abstract, a philosophy rooted in the principles of Zen buddism and applicable to most conflicts and situations one can find himself in.

The Sun Tzu began it´s life as an oral tradition, one that had been passed from one sage to another for several hundred years before it was first commited to paper. In fact many, many differing versions of the “book” exist, with subtle diffrences in the organization and wording of some chapters. Also the nature of the ancient Chinese language has made digestion of it´s core message quite difficult for westerners or even modern day Chinese scholars. That makes the Denma Translation Group´s new edition of the text all the more interesting. A group of dedicated linguists, philosophers and practicioners of Asian martial traditions banded together to strip this literary Metusaleah to the bone and present it´s original message to an english-speaking audience. The recent discovery of bamboo strips inscribed with a much older version of the text than previously available during an archeological dig made it possible to reach further back in the text´s history than previously attempted. This translation took more than ten years to complete but the result is more than worth the effort.

Terracotta army excavated in China

Shih and the art of taking whole

The text itself is beutiful, adressing the basic dilemmnas faced by any erson or party faced with a conflict of interest. This book has uses far outside the realm of armed conflict. At it´s heart is the concept of Shih, a chinese term that is difficult to translate but means the nature of reality at any given moment. It includes everything from the concrete to the intanglible and the relationship between just about everything. Grapsing the concept of Shih is the key to victory. Another core concept is “taking whole” a phrase that appears numerous times in the text. It´s meaning is beutifully illustrated in these couplets:

Taking a state whole is superior.

Destroying it is inferior to this.

Taking an army whole is superior.

Destroying it is inferior to this.

Therefore, one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the most skillful.

Subduing the other´s military without battle is the most skillful.

Sun Tzu - man or myth?

At it´s heart the concept of “taking whole” and the Sun Tzu itself is not violence but true victory, that is the preservation of the state(the state here used in the abstract, meaning any entity from an individual up to gigantic empires) and the accomplishments of it´s goals through the path of least resistance. When read in this light the Sun Tzu becomes remarkably non-violent, emphasizing open warfare as a last resort, not because it is morally wrong but simply because it is usually injurious to all parties and a costly way to reach your goals. The resolution of the conflict at hand is the goal, not the glory on the battlefield.

That, however, does not mean that one should be squeamish or shun conflict. Rather he should always keep his eyes on the end result, unswayed by emotions and morals. His only goal is the preservation of the state. A good general is the general that does not hold preconcieved notions of what “should be” – only what IS at any given point in time.

Set the few against the many

The Sun Tzu has influenced men such as philosopher Alfred Norton Whitehead, T.E Lawrence (of Arabia fame) and North Vietnamese general Vo Nguyen Giap, who orchestrated the defeat of the US military machine at the hands of the Viet Cong. All these, and more have used the Sun Tzu to “make the direct circuitous and the circuitous direct”, and approach seemingly overwhelming odds and unsolvable dilemnas through the application of it´s wisdom.

One of the key concepts of the Sun Tzu, which is reflected in most Asian unarmed martial arts, Jiu-Jitsu in particular is the notion that a large force, be it a huge muscular man or a massive military armada can be a hindrance as much as a boon and a smaller man can exploit his weaknesses with his own strengths through Shih. A general who properly grasps the Shih of his opponent, himself and the enviroment can shape the flow of events in such a way to turn his weaknesses into strengths. According to the Sun Tzu, wars are won or lost in the mind of the generals, and then simply played out upon the battlefield in accordance with the flow of Shih. Failure to acknowledge what is, relying instead on doctrine and procedures leads to sure defeat.

The mountain collapsing

Nowhere is this more apparent in our day than in the stuggle of the United States in it´s “War on Terror”. Not only have George W. Bush and his cronies taken upon themselves the unenviable task of waging war on an intangible concept rather than a physical enemy, but they have chosen to bludgeon that intangiable target with the bluntest, heaviest object they could possibly wield – the world´s largest and most technically advanced army, not to mention the most expensive one to deploy.

Here are a few verses from the Sun Tzu along with this journalists interpretations on their relevance to the current situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and the world in general:

When I am few and the enemy is many

I can use the few to strike the many because those I do battle with are restricted!

The ground on which I do battle with him cannot be known

Then his preparations are many

When his preparations are many, I strike the few!

These verses highlight the difficulty of facing an insurgency network operating on their home ground. The ground “cannot be known”, that is the larger force cannot discern when and where the smaller enemy will strike. Therefore he must be alert everywhere, and cannot rest anywhere. The smaller force, being more mobile and less visible, can strike at the least well defended formation and cause damage. This principle also applies to the measures taken to counter terrorist attacks at home – the United States is forced to maintain alertness everywhere at once, and being as large a system as it is, any deficiencies in defense are clearly visible to outside observers who can then choose where to strike. The constant alertness of the larger force is also a drain on both the populace and the coffers of the economy, which ties in well with the next verse:

In sum –

When raising one hundred thousand soldiers and setting out on a campaign of one thousand li, the expenses of the hundred clans and the contributions of the nation are one thousand gold pieces a day.

Inner and outer are disturbed.

People are exhausted on the roads.

Seven hundred thousand households are unable to manage their affairs.

This verse highlights the Sun Tzu´s distaste for needless musterings of military might due to it´s strain on the economy. An large army may be victorious abroad but still wreak havoc at home through it´s very existance.

War in the balance - Joe Kupert

At last count the direct costs of maintaining US troops in Iraq stood at a whopping 4 billion dollars a month, not counting incidental costs such as reconstruction contracts, veterans benefits to wounded soldiers and the families of KIA´s, not to mention the massive financial strain of maintaining high levels of readiness around the globe. This was also one of Al Quaeda´s original objectives. The economy of the US is in dire straits with no end in sight. “Inner and outer are disturbed” is also a reference to the damage that is done to peaceful international relations and trade during times of war. The current rift between the US and Europe can be viewed in that context.

Terror Alert Twister - Joe Kupert

On guard against them for years to contend for a single day´s victory, yet, by begrudging rank and the reward of a hundred gold pieces, he does not know the nature of the enemy.

He is utterly inhumane.

He is not the general of the people.

He is not the assistant of the ruler.

He is not the ruler of victory.

Here the Sun Tzu speaks of the hubris of a general that refuses to know and understand his enemies true intention by employing spies and dealing with the “lesser evil” in order to achieve knowledge of the enemy, choosing instead to flex his military muscle in a display of superior force. Instead of winning the war in the mind, he chooses to win the war on the battlefield. But not knowing the enemies nature, he dooms himself to certain defeat. His Shih is obvious, plain for all to see due to the size of his force while his enemy remains invisible, emerging only when it is profitable for him to do so.

Time is on the side of the insurgents, and unless there is a major shift in the strategy of the United States, they will face a Vietnam on a globabl scale. In closing, this eeriely prophetic verse probably most accurately describes the behaviour of the US in the post-9/11 era:

A great officer is wrathful and does not submit.

When he encounters the enemy.

He is filled with rancor and does battle on his own.

The general does not know his ability.

This is called “the mountain collapsing.”

-EÁF