Eli Pritchard Essays (1159 words) - Military, Zhou Dynasty, Sun Tzu

Eli Pritchard Instructor Sylvia Gray History 106 19 January 2016 The Art of War: Fire and spies Throughout the duration of Sun Tzu's The Art of War we are treated to varied advice on how to conduct war intelligently and cautiously, but nothing encompasses these principles quite like fire and spy's. The tactics used with are almost unlike Sun Tzu rapid (of course with some ground rules), and as he himself put it, "Attack supported fire is indefensible"(Huang 109). Sun Tzu's Fire tactics are lessons in how to employ a dangerous weapon like fire, but at the same time like with any of Sun Tzu's tactics with caution. The second and perhaps cumulative of Sun Tzu's lessons is general is Espionage; in fact war through knowledge is key to the majority of Sun Tzu's Principles. While it is true that Sun Tzu gives specific instructions on how to use certain variables (Like Terrain) knowing beforehand what the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy is what gives way to victory. Spies and Fire are two of the Ideas at the very heart of Sun Tzu's tactics, In other words wars fought with inte lligence and caution. Fire The Tactic of Fire is more or less an instruction set on how to use fire in armed conflicts, and a summary of how caution is important in war. Beyond having the proper conditions for fire (dry climate and high winds) Sun Tzu outlines fire's uses and what to set fire to, moreover specific targets like troops, supplies, vehicles and escape routes. Fire is a tactic unlike any in The Art of War as there is no predefined beneficial ruleset to take into battle, only observation that can be made in battle like not getting burned or not fighting down wind. There is a powerful tool to be found within fire, but Sun Tzu reveals in his conclusion to fire the innate relationship between politics and strategic victory. An Effective political strategy can achieve military victory (and vice versa), More importantly that either type of strategy must be rational in nature to be effective. Fire is powerful but altogether risky tool, and power in Sun Tzu's Art of War does not make for a sound politic al or military victory only caution and rationality. Fire in a modern context One of the best modern examples of the concept of fire and its political interplay is the political/military relationship between air strikes and human shields. While the meaning of air strike is really self-explanatory (a missile strike by air) human shields needs definition, in short it is the tactic of putting civilians on important military targets to prevent air strikes. Human shields have been implemented since the Persian Gulf War in 1991(Tucker 541) and as recently as 2006 by both the IDF and HAMAS in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Tucker 543). Air Strikes like fire pose a powerful threat to the enemy but when not enacted with caution they are a distinct political and military detriment due to human shields. Likewise human shields are seemingly a modern political counter to air strikes, but overall they pose a distinct political risk to whomever uses them like with Hussein regime in 1990. Saddam Hussein in 1990 moved civilians to key strategic locations in an effort to protect these locations from air strikes (Tucker 542). After the release of several propaganda movies involving the human shields in 1991 Hussein released them due to newfound international pressure (Tucker 542). Like with fire (and human shields) seeking the most powerful political or military strategy leaves the fundamental rationality and caution needed to win wars vacant. Spys "So, as for enlightened lords or distinguished commanders, the reason they can overcome the adversary when action is taken and achieve unparalleled success is prescience"-Espionage, The Art of War Sun Tzu's writing on spies is more or less a summary of how to approach warfare in general, and this approach values knowledge above all other resources. First Sun Tzu Elaborates on the general types of spy's agents, moles, turn coats hidden provocation agents and mobile informants (Huang 113). Then instructions on how to best employ spies in warfare (or the specific type), specifically basic ground rules on what is required of a