George Patton once declared that, “There is only one unchanging principle of warfare: that is, to inflict the greatest amount of death and destruction upon the enemy in the least time possible.” This principle has been central to US military strategy since Grant and Sherman, and remains so today. But is it true? Is it a valid strategy? There are obvious times when it is not true. For example, if Washington at Yorktown had slaughtered the army of Cornwallis instead of capturing it, the war might have continued for several more years, and might have convinced England to pour every … Continue reading The Body Count and the Pentagon