In Sun Tzu’s "The Art of War", there is a chapter entitled "Doing Battle":

Therefore I have heard of military operations that were clumsy but swift, but I have never seen one that was skillful and lasted a long time. It is never beneficial to a nation to have a military operation to continue for a long time. -Sun Tzu

I was trying to gain some deeper sense for my law practice but these quotes continued to make me think of other things going on in the world:

When a country is impoverished by military operations, it is because of transporting supplies to a distance place. Transport supplies to a distant place, and the populace will be impoverished. -Sun Tzu

How can this Chinese person from the 6th century possibly be relevant in 2009?

When resources are exhausted, then levies are made under pressure. When power and resources are exhausted, the the homeland is drained. The common people are deprived of seventy percent of their budget, while the government’s expenses for equipment amount to sixty percent of its budget. -Sun Tzu

At least we have remained a presence and allowed the infidels to know we are not leaving until the job is done!

So the important thing in a military operation is victory, not persistence. -Sun Tzu