It is important to understand how leaders have adapted and thought about war and warfare across their careers. ‘The Autobiography of General Ulysses S. Grant: Memoirs of the Civil War’ is perhaps the best war memoir ever written. H. R. McMaster Read Quote
Although combat operations unseated the Taliban and the Saddam Hussein regime, a poor understanding of the recent histories of the Afghan and Iraqi peoples undermined efforts to consolidate early battlefield gains into lasting security. H. R. McMaster Read Quote
The key thing about force protection is… if you focus too much on force protection, and you disengage yourself from the community, you’re putting yourself at greater risk because you need to interact with the community in a positive way to gain the intelligence you need. H. R. McMaster Read Quote
We often operate effectively on the physical battleground but not on the psychological battleground. We fail to communicate our resolve. H. R. McMaster Read Quote
Offensive operations and hunting down the enemy is an integral part of any counterinsurgency approach. H. R. McMaster Read Quote
War is, in fact, an extension of politics, and in any war, military operations have to be conducted in such a way that they contribute to sustainable political outcomes consistent with vital interests that are at stake in that war. H. R. McMaster Read Quote
People fight today for the same fundamental reasons the Greek historian Thucydides identified nearly 2,500 years ago: fear, honor, and interest. H. R. McMaster Read Quote
After engaging in acts of war against another nation, there exists a degree of uncertainty in terms of the enemy’s reactions. War inspires an unpredictable psychology and evokes strong emotions that defy systems analysis quantification. H. R. McMaster Read Quote
In the Army, because the stakes are so high – right? – you can’t just be a yes-man and say, ‘Great idea, boss!’ if you don’t believe it – right? – because lives are at stake. And the commanders that I’ve worked for, they want frank assessments; they want criticism and feedback. H. R. McMaster Read Quote
