Principles of War

Since prehistoric times, when wars were fought with sharpened sticks , until the present day when the tools of war have become so destructive that they threaten the very existence of the human race, success in wars has been achieved by observing a set of rules, codified as The Principles of War.

In the Fifth Century B. C. Sun Tzu, a Chinese General and philosopher set down these principles in his book “The Art of War”.

General Carl von Clausewitz, a Prussian officer, modified the Principles before he left for Russia to help fight against Napoleon, as did Baron von Steuben, when he became responsible for training the Continental Army at Valley forge. But the basic principles have endured. Until now.

The individuals responsible for the war in Iraq have managed to ignore, skew, or violate all nine Principles of War.

These Principles are simple statements that any soldier should understand:

1. OBJECTIVE: Define a decisive and attainable goal for each military
operation. The vague in insincere goal “to bring democracy to the people of Iraq” does not meet that requirement.

2. OFFENSIVE: Seize, retain and exploit the initiative. Despite the recommendations of all the experienced Generals, the Army and Marines have been denied enough troop strength to do this.

3. MASS: Apply sufficient force to achieve the objective. Here, too, our current strategy of limiting boots on the ground prevents our forces from completing the objective.

4. ECONOMY OF FORCE: Focus the right amount of force on the key objective without wasting force on secondary objectives. We have never been able to identify any key objectives. We are fighting this war reactively.

5. MANEUVER: Place the enemy in a position of disadvantage through flexible application of combat power. After more than three years of combat our forces are still road-bound in reconnaissance Humvees that were never intended for combat. Our soldiers are heavily laden pack mules. They couldn’t maneuver if they had to.

6. UNITY OF COMMAND: For every objective, there must be a unified effort, and one person responsible for the command decision. Never before have the U.S. combat forces been so micro-managed by so many incompetent “decision makers".

7. SECURITY: Never allow the enemy to acquire an unexpected advantage. From American mass media to Al-Jeezera, our operations are an open book. We telegraph everything we attempt to do in a politicized war.

8.: SURPRISE: Strike the enemy at a time, place, or manner for which he is unprepared. The enemy forces can teach us a lesson here. They continually hit us where we are unprepared. Our own operations are too clumsy to surprise anyone.

9. SIMPLICITY: Prepare clear, uncomplicated plans and clear, concise orders. Has anyone ever listened to the Commander-in Chief, the Secretary of Defense, or the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when they discuss operations? Hah!