Originally Posted by nezmot

Sun Tsu (and many others) said that one must know one's enemy. Shutting your eyes blindly and stating that 'understanding' is not required is not only ignorance, but it is also tactically naive.

That is one reason why this over simplification is such a dangerous (and unpatriotic) thing to undertake. Sure, it's easy to stir people up with simple ideas, but at the end of the day, it is completely counter productive.

Understanding and intelligence should be the first step towards countering a perceived threat. Unfortunately there are many people who fail to understand that intelligence is a far more powerful tool than righteous indignation.