‘Why can’t we fight the way they do?” This is the eternal cry of the civilized man at war, the policeman walking the beat — and the political conservative. There’s an answer, and it goes beyond the moral injunctions that “we’re better than they are” or “we shouldn’t sink to their level.” It is also this: We’re fighting for different things, with different people. So of course our methods must be different. The reasons are not only moral; they are practical. They should be considered even by those who reject all appeals to morality in politics.
In any form of conflict, there are two basic principles that constrain your strategy and your tactics: Your ends affect the means you choose, and you can only select strategies and tactics that are appropriate to the troops at your disposal.
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