Strategic Retreat Quotes
This was hand written the day before D-Day by Eisenhower. It was to be issued in the event of a failure of operation Overlord—the D-Day landings. The success was by no means a sure thing and the greatness of Eisenhower is indicated by the fact that he was not arrogant, kept the possibility of failure in mind, and took it upon himself to accept the responsibility of things had not gone well. This was one of the greatest quotations that was never made.
The free man, not controlled by others may see no rational reason to fight and therefore the refusal to war can be as courageous as fighting. This idea is still not accepted in many cultures and nations. The issue was argued mightily in the Vietnam War. Spinoza’s ideas were considered so radical and dangerous that he was the only man in history who was excommunicated by the Catholics, the Jews and the Muslims.
June 1941 was the date that Nazi Germany invaded Russia.
This concept of Total War turns out to be the only way to bring many conflicts to an end. Sherman was hated by generations of Southerners because he appeared to be vengeful to humble the Southern pride and spirit. But actually, Sherman was not personally vengeful at all and respected the South and understood its point of view more than most in the North. However, he was one of the first of the Western World’s military leaders to realize that with modern warfare and the then modern weapons, the only way to win a war was to persuade the enemy to stop fighting and if they refused, as the South kept doing, the only rational and humane course was to end the war as swiftly and totally as possible.
The Emperor was writing to his son to explain the defeat of Japan. In what was a bit of revisionist history, the Emperor neglected to mention that with the exception of some of the incursions in China, Hirohito had personally approved every Japanese invasion including Pearl Harbor. Further, it was he who had approved the orders that Japanese troops should fight to the death rather than retreat or surrender.
