“A General Is A General Is A General”
Ross M. Kadri
A Study of Generalship, Military
Philosophy, Ethicality, Morality and
Culture In Western, Eastern, Ancient
And Contemporary Cultures.
A DIM VISION OF A LIGHTBULB
“MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION”
AND “THE MILITARY INDUSTIRAL
COMPLEX”
CODES
LEADERS AND GENERALS
• I immediately decided I should list ten
different leaders who were renowned and
accomplished strategists and leaders of
character.
• The challenge was that I ended with a list of
thirteen or fifteen political and military
leaders.
Counselors and Mentors for
“General Honor”
Mark Foard- Advisor
James Earle- Mentor
MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES
• The next step was to order my books online.
• So as soon as I received a book in the mail I
would read it in a week to a week and a half,
depending on the length.
• As I read anything that stood out to my
curiosity and interests, I would tear the page
on which it was written.
BONUS PREPARATION
Motivations For Expansion
• Midway through my Independent Study, I had
realized that I wanted to do my senior project
on a military based topic.
• This meant that in order to cover new topics
that I would need to read 10-20 more books
to understand some of the most basic
concepts that “A General Is A General Is A
General” would cover.
Challenges That I Had
• Submitting to the process of journaling my
thoughts.
• Isolated work
• When to start writing
• Editing
• Engaging in a cooperative process (Stubbornness)
CONT’D
• However this process helped me learn more
about the qualities and traits the military
beholds as good or true.
Annotated Works Consulted
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1) Renault, Mary. The Nature of Alexander.
2) Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, Walter Arnold Kaufmann, and R. J. Hollingdale.
3) Melville, Herman. Bartleby the Scrivener
4) Nitobe, Inazo. Bushido: the Soul of Japan
5) Cartledge, Paul. Thermopylae
6) Dyson, Freeman J. Weapons and Hope
7) Fuller, J. F. C. Grant and Lee: a Study in Personality and Generalship.
8) Saint-Exupéry, Antoine De. Night Flight.
9) Conrad, Joseph. Heart Of Darkness.
10) Camus, Albert, and Carol Cosman. Exile and the Kingdom: Stories.
11) Tzu, Sun. Sun Tzu: the Art of War.
12) Machiavelli, Niccoló. The Art of War.
13) Hanson, Victor Davis. Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power
14) Weintraub, Stanley. Fifteen Stars: Intersected Lives : MacArthur, Marshall, Eisenhower.
15) Lipsky, David. Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point.
16) Conroy, Pat. The Lords of Discipline.
17) Utley, Robert M. The Lance And The Shield, The Life And Times of Sitting Bull.
18) Clausewitz, Carl Von. On War.
19) Gray, J. Glenn. The Warriors; Reflections on Men in Battle.
20) Myrer, Anton. Once an Eagle.
21) Keegan, John. A History of Warfare.
22) Machiavelli, Niccoló 0300. The Prince.
Annotated Works Consulted Continued
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23) Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm. Ecce Homo
24) Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five. NY: Dell, 1991. Print.
25) Roosevelt, Theodore. "Citizenship in a Republic: The Man in the Arena
26) Lee, Robert E. "Farewell Address General Robert E. Lee Gettysburg Pennsylvania American Civil War History PA."
27) Singer, P.W. "War of the Machines: A Dramatic Growth in the Military Use of Robots Brings Evolution in Their
Conception." Scientific American 30 June 2010. Web.
28) Lincoln, Abraham. "Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address."
29) Burgess, Anthony. A Clockwork Orange. New York: Norton, 1988. Print.
30) Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Knopf, 1992. Print.
31) Hastings, Michael. "The Runaway General." Rolling Stone June-July 2010. Web.
32) Bowden, Mark. "The Professor of War." Vanity Fair May 2010. Web.
33) Mussolini, Benito. "Benito Mussolini Quotes - Every Anarchist Is a Baffled –
34) Lance, Peter. "The Spy Who Came For The Heat." Playboy. Web.
35) Baker, Peter. "A Wartime Chief's Steep Learning Curve." The New York Times 28 Aug. 2010. Print.Shanker, Thom. "Win
Wars? Today's General Must Also Meet, Manage, Placate, Politick and Do P.R." The New York Times 13 Aug. 2010: 11. Print.
36) Bumiller, Elisabeth. "We Have Met the Enemy: PowerPoint." The New York Times 27 Apr. 2010. Print.
Gellman, Barton. "Locked And Loaded." 30 Sept. 2010: 24-33. Web.
Why We Fight. Dir. Eugene Jarecki. Prod. Eugene Jarecki and Susannah Shipman. By Eugene Jarecki.
37) Apocalypse Now. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall.
38) "Defence Spending in a Time of Austerity; The Cost of Weapons." The Economist (US) 28 Aug. 2010: 20-22. Print.
39) "After Iraq." The Economist (US) 28 Aug. 2010. Web.
"The Reckoning." The Economist (US) 28 Aug. 2010: 37-38. Web.
40) "Of Course I Don't Want to Be President." The Economist (US) 28 Aug. 2010: 38-39. Web.
"Game Resumed." The Economist (US) 28 Aug. 2010: 39. Web.
41) Chivers, C.J., and Terry Gross. "The AK-47: 'The Gun' That Changed The Battlefield." Fresh Air. NPR.
42) Chivers, C. J. The Gun. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010. Print.
"MBAs Are for Wusses; Israeli Entrepreneurs." The Economist (US) 28 Aug. 2010: 54. Print.
43) "What Rumsfeld Got Right." The Atlantic. Web. July-Aug. 2008.
44) Hitler, Adolf, and Abraham H. Foxman. Mein Kampf.
45) Molière, Jean-Baptiste. The Misanthrope. New York: Dover Publications, 1992. Print.
46) Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, and H. L. Mencken. The Antichrist.
47) Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, and Walter Arnold. Kaufmann. Thus Spoke Zarathustra: a Book for All and None. New York:
Modern Library, 1995. Print.
48) Jerido, Earl. "Earl Jerido Interview For A General Is A General." Telephone interview. 13 Nov. 2010.. 2010.
49) Harry, Paul, and Robert Ratcliffe. "Veterans Day Interview For A General Is A General Is A General." Personal interview. 11
Nov. 2010.
IMPACTS
• I had planned to serve in the United States
Military before I decided to do this study, but
it has reaffirmed my desire to do this.
• I also have familiarized myself with military
art/science, philosophy, literature, and history.
• Peter Bergen’s Vanity Fair article, “Bin Laden’s
Lonely Crusade”.