Know Thy Enemy=Love Thy Enemy or, Now They Tell Us

Phillip Carter is a practicing attorney who specializes in international law. He spent time as a soldier in Iraq until 2006. The ramifications of the following statement from Carter blow me away.

Carter tells us that the US military hasn't really known who or what they're fighting. That fact is stunning in its implications.

You mean young men and women have died on foreign sands in a so-called war that the military leaders don't even understand who or what they're fighting? As Carter shows, Sun Tzu said that one of the first laws of war is to know your enemy. ...

Carter writes:

Sun Tzu said many years ago that knowing your enemy was crucial for victory. Rosen's book tells more about the insurgency than nearly any intel dump I've gotten over here, and it should be required reading for all U.S. personnel in Iraq. Although it's true that some fighters (particularly those from outside Iraq) wage war out of pure nihilism, many inside Iraq fight us for clear, articulable, understandable reasons. We must develop an understanding of these men which goes beyond the depth offered by PowerPoint briefings in order to develop strategies and tactics for fighting them — or better yet, for disarming and enfranchising them.

Tell that to the denizens of the modern Hell that once used to be called Baghdad.

This passage should be branded on Cheney/Rumsfeld's asses and whatever other parts of their bodies it does not cover.

Who will pay for the sins of this ignorance? For, as most people know, ignorance is no excuse when it comes to the law, and dare one say when it comes to morality?

We are all guilty.

Related Links

• Who the Enemy Is... and Friends