CARL
VON CLAUSEWITZ
Macroknow Library |
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On
War.
" . . . [W]ar is nothing but the continuation
of policy with other means."1a*
JOMINI
GUEVARA
ZEDONG
"War
is thus an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will."1b*
"
. . . [O]ne may appeal to genius, which is above all rules;
which amounts to admitting that rules are not only made for idiots, but are idiotic in themselves."1c
"What
is the object of defense? Preservation. It is easier to hold
ground than take it. . . defense is the stronger form of waging
war."1d
SUN TZU
"The only advantage the attacker
possesses is that he is free to strike at any point . . . and
in full force: the defender, on the other
hand, is able to surprise his opponent constantly
throughout the engagement by the strength and direction of his
counterattacks."1e
GUEVARA
"[T]he concept of war does not originate with the attack, because the
ultimate object of attack is not fighting: rather, it is
possession.
The idea of war originates with the defense . . . "1f
"Not by taking things the easy way . . . but by
constantly seeking out the center of his power, but
by daring all to win all, will one really defeat the
enemy."1g
JOMINI
"The principle of
aiming everything at the enemy's
center of gravity
admits of only one exception -- that is, when secondary operations
look exceptionally rewarding. . .
The first task, then, in planning for a war is to identify
the enemy's centers of gravity, and, if possible
trace them back to a single one.
The second task is to ensure that the forces to be used against
that point are concentrated for a main offensive."1h*
ZEDONG
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Interesting Links
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For an
application of Clausewitz's concept of war, see
Edward
Ayoub, The Nature, Causes, Targets,
and Timing of the 9/11 Terrorist Attack upon the United States.
Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations Derived from
the Macrogenome Project and the Macroknow Intellectual
Intelligence (MI2) System. Edward E. Ayoub,
2004. Global Security Alert. Macroknow Intellectual
Intelligence. Toronto,ON: Macroknow, Inc., 2004.
http://www.macroknow.com/sow/report-911.htm
-
Christopher
Bassford. The Clausewitz Homepage.
http://www.clausewitz.com/
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*
Italics in the original.
1
Carl Von Clausewitz (1780-1831). On
War (1832). Edited and translated by Michael Howard and
Peter Paret. Introductory Essays by Peter Paret, Michael Howard, and
Bernard Brodie. Commentary by Bernard Brodie. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1976, 1984.
a Two
Notes by the Author on His Plans for Revising On War, at 69.
b
Book I: On the
Nature of War. What is
War?, at 75.
c
Book 3: On
Strategy in General.
Moral
Factors, at 184.
d
Book 6:
Defense.
Advantages
of Defense, at 357-359.
e Ibid. The Relationship
between Attack and Defense in Tactics, at 360.
f Ibid. Interaction
between Attack and Defense, at 377.
g
Book 8: War Plans. Closer Definition of the
Military Objective: The Defeat of the Enemy, at 596.
h
Ibid. The Plan of War designed to Lead to the
Total Defeat of the Enemy, at 618-619.
2
Carl Von Clausewitz. On War. Edited with an Introduction by
Anatol Rapoport. (Abridged edition of Clausewitz's magnum opus
based on the New and Revised Edition (edited by Col. F.N. Maude)
of Col. J.J. Graham's translation, 1908). London, UK: Penguin
Books Ltd., 1968.
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