In asking whether violence is of the nature of war, Col Pfaff seems to be ignorant of the Chinese tradition. My first teacher in martial arts and strategy was retired US Army (WWII) whose teacher was Chinese. I once asked him if he had ever had to fight. He said, "If I did, I would not be a master."
The main point of his teaching was to win without fighting, either through ruse or neutralizing the opponent. His fundamental principle was, "Be invisible to your enemies and transparent to your friends." A enemy is any one who seek to control you, and friends are those in one's circle of trust.
The training involved many things but the specifically martial aspect of it was learning to recognize the opponent's style, hence, his likely behavior, while being unreadable to the opponent, which is only possible through "empty mind."
Another point that he emphasized was understanding power. He said this is the most important thing in understanding the world.
The two Chinese colonels of whom Col. Pfaff speaks get this because it has been fundamental to Chinese martial arts and strategy since Sun Tzu, and it incorporates Taoist principles based on "doing with out doing" (wu wei).
Best Defense by Thomas E. Ricks
What if two Chinese colonels think that warfare is changing, even if you don't?
Col. C. Anthony Pfaff, U.S. Army | Best Defense guest columnist
Best Defense by Thomas E. Ricks
What if two Chinese colonels think that warfare is changing, even if you don't?
Col. C. Anthony Pfaff, U.S. Army | Best Defense guest columnist
3 comments:
The Chinese are manifestly "western wannabes"...
They have fraudulent "Apple stores" over there what is the US equivalent? and dont say 'PF Changs Chinese Bistro" as that Wall St. chain in not from China...
The Chinese exporters accept our US state currency as readily as their own and perhaps more so... and the CB changes out the Chinese export firms and holds the USDs in foreign official reserves... which imo means they are "subject" to this US authority...
Meanwhile our govt morons think "we are borrowing from the Chinese!" and are too stupid to realize the US has this economic advantage in real terms at this point...
And this warrior who writes this article here about "warfare" or whatever I'd assume is a moron like this too.... so I wouldnt listen to what this guy Pfaff writes as being AT ALL insightful without disclosing his bona fides as to whether he thinks "we are borrowing from the Chinese!" or not... if he thinks "we are borrowing from the Chinese!" then reading his article here is like watching the chimpanzee cage at your local zoo... which can be entertaining but of not much use otherwise....
rsp,
The Chinese are more western than the Russians look at how well the China Olympics (GREEK!!!) were produced vs this Sochi chaos where you have to throw the toilet paper in the waste basket as the sanitary systems (which have existed in the west for 1,000s of years) dont work...
rsp,
All trading "partners" are looking out for each others best interests, to even call them adversaries shows your protectionist and xenophobic stripes. All trade is always beneficial, water from Fiji or Switzerland or glaciers should be celebrated! We didn't have to produce it, we are wealthier for it! Whether we are trading with Walmart, foxconn or working for the City of Detroit, trade between parties is ALWAYS equal and perfect competition exists. An imbalance in power or information is impossible, otherwise trade would not occur. Any suggestion otherwise just indicates you haven't read your economics text book very carefully, MORON! Trade is simple 1+1=2. Every thing you see is a result of market forces and competition. Nothing else worth thinking about exists. Most importantly human social organization doesn't change the composition or distribution of knowledge, resources, production -- that is all done by the invisible hand and the spoils go to the most able. HooRah! Even if you could prove that there was a problem: IT DOESN'T matter because it benefits "US", because all trade is beneficial, in real terms. Someone else cheats or subsidizes and the benefits flow to "US"
So forget the strategic warfare idea. Paranoid, crazy, get back to work! The other guy just does low wage, low productivity work like making food, working at walmart or delivering packages while we... oh wait we are the ones with the low wages, unproductive jobs, how did that happen?
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