Waging Peace: The Art of War for the Antiwar Movement

I am no fan of hierarchial structure; being an anarchist has that effect on me. But I think the criticism(s) Ritter gives can be useful even in a "horizontally" structured movement. You dont need a top-down form of authority to be organized or to resist some form of injustice. Just look at the militant examples of Anarchists in revolutionary Spain (they even got Orwell to fight). What Ritter does with this book is offer constructive criticism on how an antiwar movement can be effective. It would do good for those opposed to war to read this book, think it over and find common ground where the "strategies" could be helpful.

Ritter is a true hero, and this book offers a critique of the anti-war movement that may be futile, but it's right on. There is a huge difference between the mind set of "Give Peace a Chance," and the mindset of "Wage Peace." It's time to give waging peace a chance. I bought the book because the corporate pigs at Publishers Weekly ticked me off. I'm tired of watching important books smeared, denigrated, and sabotaged by Bush's rent boys in the media. Diss this, gents. It was clear from the reader reviews that Ritter's book is a valuable, important book. And so it is. Read, grid for peace, and join the battle.

An intelligent, useful and highly perceptive work by a man of great integrity and courage. I'm a business owner who, like all serious business people, specializes in making things happen. Given what's at stake, the disorganization and naivete of the US peace movement has been a source of great distress to me. This book is the first I know of to face the problem squarely and offer suggestions that will work if implemented. Step #1: Americans need to read and then defend the Constitution right here at home. This one step will stop the next illegal, immoral and insane US military adventure abroad.

This is a clever useful book. I *like* it. It is not pretentious nor is it convoluted. It does a very fine job of explaining to the non-military average activist or leader of activists the utility of Sun Tzu, Clausewitz, and John Boyd in developing a national and global strategy, national and global campaign plans, and local discrete tactical "events" that can achieve impact *only* if done in the context of a strategy and a campaign plan. The author does a fine job of gently and respectfully pointing out that the current anti-war and pro-environment movements, projects, and individuals have a severe handicap in not understanding the connection between a strategy, and operational campaign, and tactical events planned and executed in the larger context. The author does a tremendous job of clearly and concisely describing how the extreme right has managed to define its ideological war plan as "Guns, God, and Gays," while none of the thoughtful but complex, lengthy and somewhat disjointed progressive messages stand a chance. The author understand that the war for the soul of America and for the stability of the rest of the world is about belief systems, and about capturing as many individual minds and hearts as possible. The extreme right is winning with ideological fantasy while the extreme left is losing in detail for lack of a message that can be adopted by the mainstream, which remains largely apathetic. The author goes on to articulate a distress that I myself have experienced, politely pointing out that most progressive movements have too many self-named leaders, not enough disciplined followers (for lack of a strategy and campaign plan), and are generally too focused on feel good events or actions. I myself respect all these people, but think of them as the huggy huggy tea party set. They don't know how to bring an enemy system--a domestic enemy system--to a screeching halt in a showdown over time and space. The author is brilliant--utterly brilliant--in pointing out that there is only one message that can win over the mainstream and the apathetic middle, and that message is "uphold the Constitution and the sovereign power of We the People, with liberty and justice for all." He *nails* it. I am moved by this book. It is *not* a clever marketing book to add to anyone's financial kitty, this is a book by a patriot, for patriots, and it is useful--actionable--and therefore priceless in value to all of us. In the middle part of the book, after describing Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB), an Army standard, but not discussing the intelligence cycle, the author emphasizes the importance of both psychology, and intelligence: the progressives must "be able to accurately track what an opponent is doing on the battlefield." I tried to explain this to Howard Dean's staff back in the day, and could not get anyone to listen. Our politicians running for President are not only not qualified to be President, they are not even

Dont believe the back-handed Publishers Weekly review above. This must be diss-Ritter Week. Ritter is right to use Sun Tzu's Art of War as a working model [the military does and so does every major successful biz in the Pacific Rim] and his military analogies are just what the antiwar crowd needs to embrace. What Ritter discusses is exactly what Hosnan Ozbekan, the brilliant Turkish Professor Emeritus, taught graduate students in strategic methodology at the Wharton School of Business. Prior to becoming a professor, Ozbekhan worked for International Harvester (US) and was responsible for its global expansion. He made one mistake in his strategic plan, and this resulted in thousands of Turks migrating to Germany where they became third-class citizens as a result. He had wanted to help his countrymen in the course of his international work; instead he brought them shame. Ozbekhan quit business, and devoted his life to teaching proper strategic planning. Ozbekhan's motto was "One idea can change the world" and he taught a distinct step-by-step system for achieving it. Ozbekhan was the man IBM hired to bury AT & T when deregulation happened in the early 70s and IBM needed to make sure its UNIX system never saw the light of day in a desktop/workstation, even though IBM knew that UNIX was a vastly superior operating system to the young Bill Gates' early efforts. IBM maintained the lead for nearly 20 years as a result. And I know for a fact that IBM followed Ozbekhan's plan to a "T." It is obvious to me that the Publisher's Weekly reviewer has no experience in this process, much less know about it. Scott Ritter does.