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The Importance Of Military Strategy In War

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Since September 11, 2001 the United States has been at war against an evil and elusive enemy. This war has necessary conventional elements of military action, but it will not be “won” in any conventional military sense. At bottom, the war against terrorism is a political struggle and it will require a diverse array of offensive and defensive tactics, blending hard and soft instruments of power over a prolonged period of time (Diamond, n.d.). After 9/11 we have been in many battles when it comes to the war on terror. The way we approach these battles with a strategy and the tactics to execute during battle is key when it comes to war and battle in order to win and stop this enemy. Military strategy and tactics are essential to the conduct of warfare. Broadly stated, strategy is the planning, coordination, and general direction of military operations to meet overall political and military objectives. Tactics implement strategy by short-term decisions on the movement of troops and employment of weapons on the field of battle. The great military theorist Carl von Clausewitz put it another way: "Tactics is the art of using troops in battle; strategy is the art of using battles to win the war." (Goodman, 2018, pg. 1) Strategy and tactics, however, have been viewed differently in almost every era …show more content…

Military commanders and theorists throughout history have formulated what they considered to be the most important strategic and tactical principles of war. Napoleon I, for example, had 115 such principles. The Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest had but one: "Get there first with the most men." (Goodman, 2018) Some of the most commonly cited principles are the objective, the offensive, surprise, security, unity of command, economy of force, mass, and maneuver. Most are interdependent (Goodman,

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