Good Essay About Solidity, Emptiness, Water And The American Way Of Life

Sun Zi was one of the greatest philosophers of war, and his theories are still relevant to the present day. One of his greatest metaphors for conceiving a body of soldiers was as water (Mair 99). In this way, soldiers should try to go towards the depths, attacking the enemy deeply instead of what is most visible: the heights. In this sense, it is important to hit the enemy where he or she least expects it and where it hurts the most.
It is extremely important for soldiers to know their enemy, as they should fight taking their enemy into account. This includes attacking in the enemies weak points, where they have left voids. Soldiers need to see those issues that the others have disregarded, and strike there. An army needs to constantly adapt to the mold of the enemy in order to defeat him.
An extremely pertinent example of this is Al-Qaeda, especially in its attacks on American soil. Even though they could have virtually have attacked anywhere, they decided to go for an economic icon, instead of a political one. They did not strike at the White House or the Pentagon, even though these were in the plans. Their most important target was the World Trade Center, in which the biggest economic transactions in the United States of America, and the world, were held. Therefore, they did not go for the solidity, but the emptiness, the true soul of the American State that was not as reinforced as the other, more political buildings. Even though these attacks were monstrous and completely reprehensible, one could say that they were really planned out carefully and intelligently, in the spirit of Sun Zi, as they completely modified the American Way of Life.