by Jeff Vidrine

Created on: July 18, 2007

"Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move." "All warfare is based on deception. " These are quotes from The Art of War by Sun Tzu, a classic text on war written by a Chinese general in the middle of the first millennium B.C. Their usefulness has proved valuable throughout the centuries, called by some the oldest military treatise. So it begs the question, how is Congress, by setting a public timetable for troop withdrawal, being helpful to our military, its operation, and our national interest? Doesn't having an announced timetable violate the principles of secrecy and deception?

Having served our country on active duty for over twenty years, I have an understanding of some of the inner workings of government, how it succeeds, and how it fails. Government, as established in the Constitution, works best when each branch fulfills its appointed function. The Congress authorizes spending and provides oversight to the military. Once military action begins, the President is Commander-in-Chief. The day to day operations are the President's concern, and the military an extension of the executive branch. Congress certainly has the authority not to fund the executive branch's request for military operations.

General William Westmoreland, Commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam said, "The military don't start wars. Politicians start wars." The unfortunate corollary to his statement is that the military should run and execute wars through the direction of the Commander-in-Chief and that politicians should not. Giving information to the enemy via the public airwaves and the media violates Sun Tzu's basic principle of secrecy and deception. A public deadline for troop withdrawal will encourage and embolden the enemy, putting more American service members at risk. A troop withdrawal from the enemy's territory will make everyday American citizens at much greater risk here on our soil.

A repeat of Vietnam? That's the mantra of those who want our troops out of Iraq, but at what cost in the future? In Vietnam, we intervened in an internal civil war, that happened to involve communism as the government of Vietnam as its objective. Today, we face a very different enemy, one who has attacked us on our soil, attacked our allies, and is sworn to our destruction. In the words of President Dwight Eisenhower, "We are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it." Those words ring truer today than when he first said them. If only our military professionals are allowed to follow their training and not be ham-strung by the politicians in Congress giving away military plans, like a Congressionally-mandated troop withdrawal.

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