American political leaders call for military action because it seems like a decisive and strong thing to do. But restraint often takes greater resolve. Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu once wrote: “Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance by clever means …before fighting. If you know neither your enemy nor yourself, you will be defeated in every battle.” By repeatedly engaging in interventions without a proper understanding of our enemy …and without a better understanding of the consequences of our own actions (stabilizing the region ?!) …we have weakened our nation security, not bolstered it. Terrorism perpetuates terrorism …and right now in the eyes of the Middle East we are the terrorists. The law of unforeseen consequences does not reward recklessness.