By Craig Andresen – The National Patriot – Commentary

With regard to any who believe that President Trump has mismanaged the war with Iran, or any who, in their opinions believe that President Trump has ignored the lessons of history, made his strategic decisions based on advice from those who simply don’t understand how to fight or win a war, ignored his top cabinet and military advisors or built his strategy purely around political and/or personal aggrandizement, that simply couldn’t be further from the truth.

The strategy employed by the U.S. against Iran is very well documented, tested, successful and goes back much, much further than most would believe.

The basis for what has developed into the current strategy started with Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, (5th Century BCE) ‘Sun Tzu’s The Art of War repeatedly frames victory not just through battles but through breaking the enemy’s alliance network, using spies and deception, and depleting the enemy’s state treasuries while preserving your own resources.’ 

The Arthashastra, an ancient Indian piece written by Kautilya in India, roughly a century after ‘The Art of War,’ became the first formal version of the strategy listing four elements rather than Sun Tzu’s three. After the end of WWI, ‘The Twenty Years’ Crisis,’ by British political scientist E.H. Carr again narrowed it back to three elements.

During WWII, the U.S. engaged in the four element strategy and soon after the end of WWII, United States military and defense strategists formalized it as only the U.S. military can…with an acronym and it has been the blueprint taught by our military through leadership and academy classes ever since. That is certainly not to say it has always been followed and obviously, when not, our efforts have suffered for it, but it does remain the U.S. military blueprint to this day.

The acronym?