6,000 days into Afghanistan, US needs a lesson from Sun Tzu | TheHill

On Monday, the war in Afghanistan marked its 6,000th day. Ending violence in Afghanistan appears, at times, to be a forlorn dream, but the recent developments suggest the U.S. policymakers might actually get the job of striking the perfect balance between military strikes with comprehensive intelligence-based operations done.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visited Kabul this week, and stated that certain segments of Taliban want to pursue peace, and, for that, the door for talks needs to be kept “open.” Gen. John Nicholson, the top American commander in Afghanistan also insisted that the peace prospects in Afghanistan should not be ignored.

With this, there arises a question as to whether Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War”or Carl von Clausewitz’s “On War” offer the most comprehensive solution to the contemporary war in Afghanistan.

Sun Tzu has focused more on surprise attacks, intelligence-based operations and cunning strategies while Clausewitz lays great emphasis on conventional military strikes. So, which one is going to work out best in Afghanistan: Clausewitz’s conventional military maneuverings or Sun Tzu’s shrewd intelligence operations?  President Trump might have chosen the latter when he appointed Mike Pompeo, previously CIA director, as the secretary of State, and Gina Haspel as the new CIA 

Winning the war in Afghanistan is based on how and whether the insurgents are decimated from within. For this, intelligence operations offer the only way out. The piece outlines three basic reasons as to why the war in Afghanistan can be best won by employing the “cunning”warfare tactics employed by Sun Tzu. - Read More

6,000 days into Afghanistan, US needs a lesson from Sun Tzu