Deception as the way of war: is a strategy founded on deceit dishonourable, or is it the humane craft that spares blood?

Sun Tzu, answered from the texts and cited to the page.

The position in brief

All warfare is based on deception. When able to attack, seem unable; when near, seem far; hold out baits, feign disorder, and strike where you are not looked for. The general who disdains stratagem as beneath his honour does not spare his men; he spends them.123

Sources

  1. By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat. 15. The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer:—let such a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat:—let such a one be dismissed! 16.
    The Art of War
  2. In war, practise dissimulation, and you will succeed. [In the tactics of Turenne, deception of the enemy, especially as to the numerical strength of his troops, took a very prominent position. ] Move only if there is a real advantage to be gained.
    The Art of War
  3. Hiding order beneath the cloak of disorder is simply a question of subdivision; concealing courage under a show of timidity presupposes a fund of latent energy; masking strength with weakness is to be effected by tactical dispositions.
    The Art of War

Where the argument is made

  • The Art of War, ch. I (Laying Plans): "All warfare is based on deception"
  • ch. VI–VII on feint, misdirection, and striking the unexpected

How the argument was received

The book's most notorious doctrine; charged with making war a school of dishonesty and corroding the honour that restrains it.