“The best way is to keep our enemies from treading upon our ground: wherein if we fail, then must we seek to make him wish that he had stayed in his home.”— Sir Walter Raleigh, amazon.com
“How a military officer stops seeing scenery and starts seeing 'terrain' is he stop seeing aesthetic value, only tactical.”— Philip Caputo, amazon.com
“A group's goal—a successful group—can't be total annihilation of the enemy. The leverage for 4GW is that capitulation is cheaper and easier than a continued costly fight. Demands of total destruction obviously removes that option. You put them on a death ground.”— Colonel Thomas X. Hammes USMC, amazon.com
“The things that terrorists do throw rocks, threat of suicide bombs don't seem awful on tv. But the response they provoke—riot police, non-lethal rubber bullets, etc does. Smart groups exploit this.”— Colonel Thomas X. Hammes USMC, amazon.com
“Terror groups have two messages. One for international consumption, the other directly for the enemy. IOW. One for who you're fighting, one for people watching, judging, scoring the fight.”— Colonel Thomas X. Hammes USMC, amazon.com
“What made Napoleon such a dangerous opponent was his ability to seize upon a gap in his enemy's defenses with extraordinary alertness and respond to it with an aggression move at high speed.”— Paul Johnson, amazon.com
“One fundamental principle of politics is to be always on the side of your country in a war.”— William H. Seward, amazon.com
“An insurgent's greatest strength: he doesn't have to win.”— Colonel Thomas X. Hammes USMC, amazon.com
“Bin Laden's weakness—he can't understand how Americans think. 9/11 was a violation of that. Is this why he hasn't attacked since? Is it ridiculous to expect empathy from a terrorist? Are the ideas mutually exclusive?”— Colonel Thomas X. Hammes USMC, amazon.com
“Marketing is when you lie to your customers; market research is when you lie to yourself.”— Paul B. Carroll, amazon.com
“Be a listener, only keep within yourself, and endeavor to establish with yourself the habit of silences, especially in politics.”— Thomas Jefferson, amazon.com
“'But hell!' Spade said. 'It's the only way.' His eyes were hot and earnest under a reddening forehead. The bruise on his temper was liver-colored. 'I know what I'm talking about. I've been through it all before and expect to go through it again. At one time or another I've had to tell everybody from…”— Dashiell Hammett, amazon.com
“Marshall kept a 'little black book' of officers who impressed him 'for future reference.'”— Winston Groom, amazon.com
“My father once said 'Some officers get it backwards. They don't understand that we are responsible for our war, not the other way around. That's what forges trust and loyalty.”— John McCain, amazon.com
“An officer must not confer his responsibilities on the men under his command. They are his alone.”— John McCain, amazon.com