Doing the enemy's work

Sun Tzu, unlike Clausewitz, paid more attention to diplomacy and deception than to combat on the battlefield. Michael Handel writes that he "places the highest priority on defeating the enemy (preferably by non-violent means) before the war breaks out." Sun Tzu himself says "the next best thing [to winning before the war] is to disrupt his alliances."

Al Qaeda knows it has no choice but to work from Sun Tzu's playbook. A Clausewitzian strategy is beyond their means; they cannot stand and fight against the Marines and they know it. But they have had apparent success attacking the coalition in Iraq. (See Spain.)

In light of this, Joe Lockhart's comments on Allawi's speech are slimy and reprehensible. The Kerry crowd has decided to echo the propaganda of the terrorists in order to score points in the campaign.

Sadly, this is not a one-time faux pas by a staffer. Kerry's own sister went to Australia and did Al Qaeda's work for it there.

OBL was emboldened by the American retreat from Somalia and our weak response when our African embassies were bombed. The baseline problem in Iraq is to ensure that the terrorists do not receive a similar boost in morale. This transcends the political campaign. The Kerry people refuse to acknowledge this.