and lastly, i'd love to dig into "power, faith and fantasy" by israel's ambassador to the u.s. he wrote it before he was ambassador, but it is a history of american involvement in the middle east. very timely to say the least. >> visit booktv.org to see this and other summer reading lists. ..

>> will there still be a code of honor when people fight for money? i mean when it hits the fan, are people going to be, you know, beating it for the boondocks, you know? it started asking questions of do -- what exactly is a code of honor and is the warrior ethos?

does it depend on a flag? does it depend on a cause? or will it arise spontaneously just from a group of men that have to fight independent of each other. i think it does. i think it will. but in any event, i sort of -- it made me kind of think about what the warrior ethos was. i sort of tried to put this together for whatever, and offer it to, you know, to you guys. i think that probably everybody in this room that's wearing a uniform, and even the people in the room that are not wearing a uniform are here because of the warrior ethos. that's probably if you think back to when you join and first made the decision, it probably had something to do with that. either you were -- you felt like you really had the warrior ethos and you were a high school athlete or competitive person or something like that, and you were looking for a venue. i want to join the most elite unit that i can join. that's one.

or maybe you felt that there was the absence of that in your life. you might have been adrift or worning, you know, am i going to the right way? am i heading for jail? or am i heading for some kind of a life that's not going to really bring out all that's in me. you said to yourself, i want to go somewhere where this kind of code of honor exists. and where it can be, you know, taught to me. so i think that that's -- i think -- i'm putting myself in your minds. i think that's the reason. i certainly, you know, why i joined. i think that's what -- i hope that's what you guys are too. here's the other thing that's honorable about making that choice. in america today, it really is a choice. i mean if you were born in ancient sparta, there would be no choice. the warrior ethos would be the only thing there was. but here is general holland and i were talking yesterday, you got 100% of armed forces coming out of 1% of the population.

and so that's a real choice ha -- that everybody made here. particularly if you think about it, the values of the civilian society, and i'm not knocking anything here, but are quite opposite to the warrior ethos values. so this conscious choice to choose the warrior ethos for yourself is a pretty amazing thing. and i'm just -- let me just talk about the values just for one second. if you think about it in civilian life, probably the paramount value is freedom. individual autonomy that a person can be whatever they want to be, rock star, donald trump, they can be president of the united states, whatever they want to be. and that is kind of, you know, life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. that's held out as -- rightly so. that's kind of what makes america great. when you choose the warrior ethos, duty becomes the value. and service. so that you can't wear your hair

in a ponytail if you choose to and can't decide i don't feel like deploying for another couple months or deploying at all. that's one value. the second value that the greater culture at large, you know, holds up really high is money, wealth, the pursuit of, you know, affluence and celebrity. so that somebody like a donald trump or something like that is lionized throughout the culture. whereas nobody is going to get rich in this room for what you are doing. instead of money, what the warrior culture offerings is honor. there's a great story about when an ancient story. i'm going to tell you a few ancient stories today. i won't put you to sleep. when the syracuseian, i know the spartans came to their aid. whenever they helped, they

didn't sent money or army. they sent one man, general. he could kick them into shape. he was named gilipis. when he came to syracuse, it was a wealthy city in sicily. they had no army. he had to somehow form an army out of these crazy civilians. and so we went to pick his officer corps, he gave these instructions. he said search for men who care not about wealth or power, but who crave honor. and i -- i would guess that that's pretty much what's -- just what is filling this room here. another difference between that -- the civilian values and more ethos values is in civilian life, people want the creature comforts. they want air conditioning and they want an easy life. if you can take a pill and lose 20 pounds, you'll do that. whereas in the warrior,

adversity, the willing embrace of adversity is a huge part. the rougher the better. when people tell stories in a warrior culture, it's always the most hellish stories possible; right? and i know, you know, i'm a marine, and when marines talk about their history, they don't really talk about the great victories, but they talk about the worst casualty scenarios like tarawa, iwo jima, so adversity is one the great warrior virtuing. i'm trying to think of one other. it's slipping my mind. i want to say one other thing about special forces troopers in particular. in my opinion, i think that you are guys are the pinnacle of the warrior ethos. because not only are special

forces, soldiers, have possessed military skills, which, you know, we all know how difficult that is. and possess the character skills. but particularly working with indigenous forces, indigenous insurgencies, something like that, this is the highest level. because a small group of men have to go in to a completely foreign culture and exercise influence without authority, not able to make people do what you want to do by money or power or anything. but only really by personal mag anytism and personal honor and personal integrity and personal warriorhood. this is about as high as it gets. you know, i salute everybody for that. so let me get into what i think the warrior ethos is. and i'm going to start with the -- some stories from this book. four quick little one minute stories about ancient sparta. and what i'm talking about, i'm

talking about the warrior ethos. i'm really talking about a classic, old time, ancient warrior ethos. which one the things i hope when we get into some questions, i really would love to hear what you guys say about a modern world, what rules of engagement and some of the really dubious gray areas where people have to get in. this is old school that we're talking about now. these are four quick stories about the spartan women, the ancient spartan women. somehow it always starts with women. these stories come from plutar, a book called "miralia" and "sayings of the spartan women "or "sayings of the spartans" i recommend it. all of these nuggets. here are four stories. a messenger returns to sparta from a battle, and the women all gather around to find out what happens, and what has happened to the men, and who won? the messenger says, mother, your

oldest son was killed facing the enemy. the mother says he is my son. he says the younger son is alive and unhurt, he ran away from the enemy. she says, he is not my son. second story, another messenger returns from another battle. and the mother approaches him and says, herald how fairs our country? he says, mother, i'm so sorry to tell you all five of your sons were killed facing the enemy. she says, you fool, i did not ask about my sons, i asked about my country. mother, we were victorious. then i am happy. and turned around and goes home. third story, somehow, i don't know how, but two spartan brothers were fleeing from the enemy back towards the city. and they happened -- their mother happened to be coming down the road. this has been hip pock call she

sees them coming and says where do you think you are coming to. back here from whence you came? we don't know the end of that story. hopefully the two brothers turned around and went back to the other way. then the final spartan mother story was one the shortest of them all. one who hands her son the shield as she's sending him off to battle and says come back with this or on it. so that to me is a really hard core culture. you know when the women, your own mother is kicking you in the ass, you know, there's something to that. and so i'm going to refer back to those stories. there's a reason why i told them, not just because i love those stories. the warrior ethos, i think really probably evolved out of

the primitive hunting ban and the virtues that were needed, armed with only a couple of spears to take on macedons and things like that. it was designed to accomplish two things. one to over come fear. the god of the battlefield, fabos, and to make people work together. since fear and if he is probably the most prime mall emotion, self preservation. other emotions and other things had to be brought in to counter that. i think that's my feeling of what the warrior ethos comes from. so there were three things, at least three things that were recruited to counter fear and to make people work together. and that was honor, shame, and love. let's start with shame for a second. a lot of times people don't think of shame as a positive. but certainly almost every great

warrior culture is a shame-based culture. whether it's the samurai culture where if someone suffers dishonor, they have to, you know, kill themselves. and certainly pashtun wally is is a shame-based code of honor. i would say the marine corps is a shame-based culture. and certainly sparta was shame-based. going back to the stories, when you think about the mother who's son was alive and had run away from the enemy. she says that is not my son. that's the real -- that's the application of shame to make people go forward into the face of fear. there's a great story about alexander the great, excuse me a second. when his army, he and his army were in india. they had been on the, you know, fighting for ten years almost. the army was ready to revolt.

they were tired, wanted to go home, they had enough of this stuff, you know? alexander -- it was serious. he called the home army together and stripped naked. you could see across his whole body, one wound after another. he had wounded with arrows, rocks and big boulders. everything possible. he said to his men, look at these wounds on my body. all got for you. and in your service. and you'll notice that they are all in the front. there's nothing in the back. he says i will make you a deal, if any one of you can stand forth from the army, come up here, and strip naked beside me and if your wounds are greater than mine, i'll turn the army around right now and we'll walk home. not a man came forward. instead the whole army burst into a cheer and they begged his forgiveness for their want of spirit and begged them only to

lead them farther forward. that is -- it's great leadership. what that really is the application of shame to make the men. to make the men go forward and summon their spirit. in sparta, they used to have the pretty young girls, had the little anthems of shame that they used to if someone failed in action and came back to the city, there were a numbers of things that happened. the pretty young gals used to gather around and sing the songs. the next time, you can be sure he didn't didn't -- you know, ir words shame is a technique to make the application of shame worse than fear of the enemy. okay. let's talk about honor for a second. which is sort of the flip side of shame, the opposite of shame. honor is as we know from tribal cultures and i'm sure you know

this better than i do in pashtun culture, let's say, honor is the most prized possession of a man. much more important than money, land, women, anything. as long as a man has honor, he's okay. but if he doesn't have honor, life is not worth living. and so honor is the -- that high level which a person internally will not let himself fall from. there's a famous gunnery sergeant in the marine corps gamed gunner featherstone. he tells his young marine when you complain about the salary. you get two, financial and psychological. he says the financial salary sucks. but the psychological salary, and this absolutely applies to everyone in this room is knowing that you are part of a corps, you know, i don't need to repeat it, you know what it is. he says that's -- so that psychological salary is honor.

and that is something that is worth a lot. how can you put a dollar figure on that. was i going to say? i'm blanking on the other part of this thing. oh, there's a great part in the illiod. you guys are thinkers and readers. a confers. does that ring a bell? it is a great passage. i wish i could quote it. i'm going to have a paraphrase, the battle is raging. they know they have to go out. they are both scared. one says to the other, i think one says, brother, when we are back home we are treated as princes wherever we go. we get the choices cuts of meat,

finest pieces of land, when we go to public entertainment, front row seat reserved for us? why? we have to bare the brunt of the battle. we have to go out there right now where nobody else wants to go. that is honor that we must fulfill. i wish i had the great quote. but the final thing is something. therefor, let us go wind glory for yourselves or seed it to others. so those are two things that we're talking about so far, shame, honor, and the third part that's a counterpose to fear is love. what i mean by love is the bonds of brotherhood between the men. as everybody knows here, tony, everybody knows that is the strongest bond. there's a famous moment at -- on the final morning of the battle when the 300 spartans had released all of the allies. they had all gone home.

only the 300 spartans and thespians remained. they had been enveloped from the rear and they knew they were going to die in 45 minutes. some of the young warriors went to the sparta leader and asked him what should we hold in our minds right now so that we will act with honor. what when it boils down to the final thing, what should we be thinking of? the leader said to them, don't think about any high flown concepts. don't think about honor, country, don't think about your family at home, don't think about the survival of greece, democracy, freedom, any of that stuff. fight only for the man on your shoulder. he is everything. and everything is contained in him. i think that all of you guys know exactly what i'm talking about. i think that civilians don't

understand when wounded warriors, guys who have lost both legs want to go back into the fight. that's the first thing they want to do. and it's that great love between brothers that is the, you know, the counterpose to fear. and the other thing i think is the soldier prayer on the eve the battle always has been not lord preserve me, but lord let me not prove unworthy of my brothers. those are the three things of love. i'm just going to talk about is couple of more virtures that you all know. maybe there's a couple of stories that i want to tell you too. another great warrior virture is a willing embrace. and guys were jogging, you know, in 100 degrees and all of the other stuff. all great warrior stories or cultures are stories of trials or ordeals under taken to purge

the spirit and strengthing the spirit. there's another -- there's another great alexander story. i'll tell you a few of these today. when alexander first invaded afghanistan in 333 b.c., i forget when it was. attachment of tribal elders came to him and warned him not to invade their country. they said every other -- there have been a lot of guys before you and they have all come to grief. one the things they said to him, they had very poor weapons and only had the runty little ponies that they rode on, nothing compared to alexander who was like the nuclear army of his day. the tribal chief aid to him, you may defeat us, but you will never defeat our poverty. they could endure more than he could. they would hang in, lose every man, every woman, every town, but they would never quit.

you can -- as you know, that same sort of -- you've got to watches, but we've got the time scenario going on. the willing embrace. one great story that we -- i'm sure you guys know. but in -- it was 1908 or something like that. the arctic explorer ernest shackleton was going to fielden expedition to the south pole. he placed an ad. again, i wish i could quote this, but men wanted for dangerous mission. low wages, long hour, months of darkness, freezing cold, horrible chow, you are probably going to die, chance of recognition if successful. and the next morning there were 5,000 guys lined up around the block. there is that sort of -- people do want the adversity. and the warrior spirit. and this -- my favorite warrior

virtue, is the favorite at the top of my head is selflessness. and i think that that to me is the highest kind of spiritual virture. it runs counter to the civilian. in the civilian world, everybody is kind of charged to do the best that you can for yourself. get what you can. get yours, get your hands on it, bring home the bacon. in the warrior culture, the group, the team comes before the individual. and that is drummed into recruit's head as you know right from the very start. and i'll tell you another alexander story. the macedonian army was crossing a waterless desert, blistering heat, columns strung out for miles, men in horses suffering from thirst, and scouts had ridden ahead and found a spring. they were able to get a helmet full of water from the spring and they came riding back into the army and brought it to alexander, to the king.

and all -- everyone in the column could see, it was a desert. they could all see as they rode up to alexander and brought him in the water. the columns stopped where it was. alexander took the water and thank the them for bringing it to him, without touching a drop, he poured it all out into the sand. again, a great cheer went up from one end of the column to the -- everybody said selflessness is another great virtue. one final, it's not really the final one, it's one i think that sometimes gets over looked in warrior virtues. because it sounds egomaniacal. they are embarrassed. it is the desire to be great. i'm looking at gazelle. you know what i'm talking about.

just the desire to excel, will to conner is, to be the best and not settle. i'll tell you another alexander story while you are at it. i hope these aren't too many. when alexander was a boy, when he was 11 or 12, he was the heir, of course, to the thrown of macedon. his dad was the leader of macedonia. all of the war horses went down. alexander went there. there was one horse who was the biggest, strongest, toughest, obviously the greatest horse there. he was so wild that nobody could ride him. so phillip let him go without putting a bid on the horse. and alexander as a little boy said something like father, that's a fine piece of horse flesh that you lose for lack of

spirit to ride him. the calvary officers turned around. do you think you are going to ride him? yes, i will. they said i'll buy him too. how are you going to pay? with all of my prince's inheritance. they let him try. alexander noticed something nobody else knows. the horse was spooked by his own shadow. he turned the horse into the sun and talked to him, calmed him down, sprung into the saddle and to make a long story short, while everybody was freaking out, he took it around the track. when he came back, his father was in tears and went out and embraced him and said, son, you look out for a kingdom greater than ours. for clearly macedonia was too small for us. of course, it was. that is the desire for greatness

that is a real part of the warrior ethos. now i'm going to do something -- i know i'd love to talk. i'd like to talk about one subject. i like to talk about tribes for a second. now special forces is a tribe. and as you were saying, general yesterday, 5th group, and 7th group, and marine corps is a tribe, and, of course, there are real tribes over there in afghanistan and in ramadi and baghdad and all of the places that you know so well. what's interesting is that the warrior virtues that i was just talking about are tribal vir cues. one the things about tribes respect elders. tribes are constantly at war with every other tribe.

they may coless. even if you think about the native american. the sioux fight the whatever they were. that's the nature of tribes. the other thing about tribes, they are not -- conduct is not governed by a system of laws, but a code of honor. which again is special forces and again is like other tribes that we know. including the mafia. prison gangs are tribes. the willing embrace of adversity is another aspect of tribes. and you could make a case that when the american military trains these young recruits, what they are trying to do is make them into a tribe. make them, you know, make everybody wear the same clothe, have the same haircut, eat the same chow, do the same training,

compel them to be together and force the love. they have to eat together and so on and so forth. and there are many other tribal qualities that sort of echo the warrior ethos. but this is what i really would love to hear what you think about this. this is where it kind of gets -- what i'm about to talk about is where it gets in a gray area in is a morally dubious area. two aspects of tribes that are very powerful and don't align with the warrior ethos is one is that a tribe exists for itself alone. if you think about the names of the -- that the american indian tribes had for themselves, like the navajo call himselfs the denay, which means the people. a lot of tribes have the same sort of names for themselves. as if they are the human beings and everyone who is not in the

tribe, even if you think about the people of israel. they are the chosen people. that was a real tribal culture. still is. so a tribe, this is a quality of tribes, to be -- to exist for itself alone and to see anyone outside of the tribe as not a full human being. when it gets aligned with a religion that's a fundamental and basically fanatical or extreme part of religion, then you have infidel. then you have outside, you are a nonbeliever, or you are not a -- you are not a full human being. when that happens, when that idea happens, all kinds of actions can be taken against people who are not human being. now the warrior ethos, on contrary, the classic western warrior embraces the enemy as a full human being and hopes that the enemy, a warrior wants a

true warrior ethos, wants nothing greater than a great enemy. the better the enemy, the more honorable the better. one measures himself against who was fighting against. so that's -- and you had examples like this even in the nazis. ramel, who was not even a nazi, but classic old school warrior, when he captured prisoners, he gave them the same rations that he got. his gesture of chivalry towards the enemy are vegen as they say. that's one thing that differing. another thing in the same category, again this is the dubious area, tribes i'm thinking about native american, tribes in the amazon jungle, african, prison gangs, mafia,

any sort of tribe like that are notoriously cruel, particularly to captures, cruel to women and particularly cruel to captives. and whereas the warrior ethos is exactly the opposite. that when anyone comes into power, into the power of true warriors, they take care of them. there is no exploitation, they might not give up stakes -- steaks and baked potatoes. at least they are not torturing the crap out of them. i'd like to fade out on the note here and ask if -- what you guys think about how much force, you know, is okay to use. let's say talk about interrogating prisoners or, you know, what i'm talking about. i'm kind of losing my

articulation here. in the gray areas, does the warrior ethos, does the classic warrior ethos apply to some of the situations that we're in today where the rules of engagement are kind of -- are not -- hit them with full fire power and blow them out of the water. where you have tactics and engagement policies. does it -- i'm worning this myself. i don't have the answer. is the classic warrior ethos out dated? does it need to be -- when you are fighting against an enemy, who doesn't share the same code of honor do you keep your code of honor? or do you adjust to the enemy's code? and anyway, that's my question that i'd like to put to you guys. you know what, before i do that, let me wrap up in one -- i want

to say something personal and then wrap this up. my part here. to me, the warrior ethos doesn't just apply to warriors. and it is not just about war fighting. i myself as a writer, i use the warrior ethos every day. i think that where the warrior ethos becomes to its highest level is where it's employed internally, and, you know, the warrior ethos concept behind it, it's a view of life that sees life as a struggle. you know. life is not an entitlement, it's not a free ride, it's a struggle. the way the warrior ethos sees it. it sees enemies out there that must be confronted. and it sees and says that they are -- one must do that with honor. doing it with honor is a form of living out your higher self. and the enemies in my opinion are not just external to our

country, or even enemies within our own organization, but in our own hearts. the enemyies like self-doubt. laziness, lack of generosity to friends, all of the vices, all of the internal vices to me the warrior ethos, these virtues of patient, perseverance, willing acceptance are at their highest when they are turned internally. let me -- i forget one find alexander story. when alex arounder was in india, he was came upon what they call in those days naked wiseman, who were down sunning themselves and meditates on the bank of the river, they were going through the narrow streets and came to

the place where the wiseman were. one the young lieutenants was kicking them out of the way. they still wouldn't move. at this point, alexander themselves came up. and the young lieutenant said to one the wiseman, he said this man has conquered the world. what have you known? he looked up and said i have conquered the need to conquer the world. at this moment, he laughed with approval. he said if you could be anybody in the world expect myself, i would be this guy here. and so what alexander meant by that, he recognized he is an inner war your. -- warrior. he probably had been a warrior, he was struggling to achieve self-mastery. that's it for me. would anybody like to say

anybody, ask anything? whatever. >> let me get additional context for people to think about. sean dempsey right now, chief staff of the army. >> 37. >> 37. this is a discussion that's going on within the army right now, not in the sense of defining who we are. i think we know that. redefining. and if you are reading his words of publications, you know this, and if you haven't, then you ought to. because it's all about professional development. and general dempsey today is asking all of us, the officer commission corps and soldiers to re-examine the professional law.

in fact, one of his lines is timeless. especially after ten years of war. unique in the american history. that's unique juneture. as a result of that, some things we are doing well, some things less. if you concentrate on the number of tasks, the total set is x plus something. and those plus something are, you know, suffering from decay. determining what those are is part of the challenge. this larger discussion is absolutely part of that. we've wrestled with issues like, you know, we still have those soldiers on trial out of fort lewis the killing team. up, i'm sure you are familiar with that. where allegedly, soldiers

killed, avenue fan -- afghan civilians killed for sport. there's at least some number that have died. we recognize that as being outside of our ethos. so this is a very relevant discussion that we're having about who we are and what it means to be a warrior or certainly a soldier capital s. i would apply that across the joint force at the end of the day. there's a very old study now, it wasn't so old when i first came in the army. i think it's dr. jackowitz who's written and the names of the american soldier in the western context. and another piece of that is the notion of what it meant to be a

knight in western european culture. which we've absorbed and to be a knight meant to be sanctioned by the church. it meant that you had chosen, in this case, the point and the difference between tribes and perhaps warriors, and in the treatment of prisoners and people who are now under your control. and so you were sanctioned by the church in the medieval europe. because it was penalty to be a constraint. it was meant to be an enabling tool. you were tighting for god and country. but you were limited on how you could employ. you swore an oath. you protected women, you protected the innocent, you protected those who could not protect themselves. and those who fell under your power. by virtue of combat. the japanese went through this. the japanese are infamous to

this day, you can't talk to a world war ii pacific veteran and not -- you don't have to scratch long before the feelings of what it meant to fight japanese in those days comes to the surface. i still know i have friends who's dad still won't buy anything in japan. it's forever. it's in the life. what a lot of people don't remember, in world war i, the japanese in the same time frame, the japanese were renowned, in fact, they were internationally recognized for their treatment of prisoners. and that was very much considered part of the code. it was that a warrior takes care of those who he is now responsible for. by virtue of conquest, i'm not responsible. there was a deliberate mutilation of that code as japanese -- as japan went

through the militaristic era that resulted in the japanese government and military philosophy and doctrine that might have been through the worlds of conquest and world war ii where the code got corrupted. and, of course, now it became the height the dishonor, not just for a japanese warrior, that was always part of the code, but now we trained that same obligation to my adversary and if you surround to me, you are no longer human. you are now something else. therefore, the torture, whatever fit, you bought into that when you surrendered. that all surrounds. that was the environment that we operate in. if you red rock peters, we told the military officer, very

prolific writer and thinker about what it is we do. if you read his word. he takes a pretty strident position on who we are and how we ought to be operating against the barbarians. he doesn't like, he would disagree with the term warrior. he puts war warrior more of the tribal who's not constrained. he used the word soldier, because he thinks it's another step up on the evolutionary scale of, you know, thug to ultimate professional. i think -- i'm babbling here. the point here is that, steven has brought to us today to think about that we very much are about the still discovers who we are. or at least redefining who you

are. because it's very, very important to us. and that we define who we are. especially because we are arguably perhaps this is that always striving to be the best possible. we are exemplary, we are representative of arguably the height of the profession of arms. that's what we strive to be. by self-admission, all of our tribes say we come to this line of work, i don't care if it's a regiment, special forces, whatever it is, because we want to be the very best of what it is that the soldier is supposed to be. and we constantly seek to prove it. every day, you know, what you did to me yesterday is yesterday. what have you done for me lately. that is what we are charged. it's not just folks in the uniform, it's really all of us

in the profession of arms. and all of us are in the profession of arms in one way, shape, or form. if you are in the uniform, the definition becomes very, very important. i'll shut up here. and let other folks comment. this is very relevant. our chief is very much seeking art inclusion or participation if the army continues to reassess itself, especially after the tenture of war, understand what the soldier and virtues still are and where, perhaps, after ten years of very concentrated work have we slipped across the entire domain of what soldierly virtues and character expectations are. there are certainly things ha we know for sure. i think ten years of war fighting, if nothing else, reconfirms. we are different.

we had the discussion yesterday. we are nobly different in one context from the armies of alexander and the roman legions and other armies who like us today were preeminent armies of their day. we are the armies of kahn when the empire was established, it was ruthless. every tactic was absolutely available for deployment by him and his soldiers. carthage no longer exists. because they leveled it. carthageian are no more. they have irish, mexican, chinese americans, we have no carthageians. because they no longer exist.

they lost power to make that so. what has made us so different, not that we haven't had our moments, but i mean we are -- we all have -- america is not a perfect country. and there's no perfect army. but the truth of the matter is we literally have the power to eradicate our enemies. we uniquely have to power. i mean you here, guys who have caught in battle, have had enough tolerance to bring to bear. those of us that exact. these incredible power to solve the problems through the -- you know, the application of our explosives, whatever the case maybe. yet we routinely, consistently, deliberately by ourselves from deploying that power. afghanistan would only be fattah and fattah is only because we choose to allow it to remain such because of who we are.

rest assured, if we were ancient rome, if we were alexander, if we were, you know, kahn or any of those folks that occupied the same place in history with the relevant power, it would not be so. because we are different. and as such, we have not just warrior within our army. we have a role that plays across the world. and in the american army, i include my joint brothers as well on that. but at the end of the day, when things aren't landing, it's the army. there's an been example of that constraint and use of force and use of power, there has been set a standard that we hold ourselves to that was held against that we ourselves are in violation or people perceive that we are. you wouldn't trade that for the world. i wouldn't trade that for the world. because it's americans and who we represent and indeed because

again uniquely when we go forth and do the battle, wemented to protect our country and keep the fights from taking place here and the news to extent to the -- to those peoples at least some portion of what it is that we enjoy here in the united states. as opposed to conquering and staying. you know, we don't do that. we come home. anyway. that was too much. ate up a lot of time. these with substitutions. i'll shut up. >> i thank you for teaming it up. >> thank you. >> i'm going to jump in and say one more thing before the ask the questions. and that is another -- alongside the warrior, there's another kind of breed of cat that we've kind of lost track of. you know, over the last -- since the vietnam. that's the citizen soldier, that

always was the american ideal, the farmer and minuteman that would take down the flint lock and would serve as long as he was needed and as soon as he could get his discharge, he was back home to the farm. you could make a very strong case that a democracy really needs citizen soldiers. but nowadays, i think the army and the marine corps are much more warriors and professional forces since i think i could talk. i've got to stop to. i think that kind of warrior does better in the kind of wars that we are fighting. i don't think citizen soldiers would be so great. in other -- there are dangers to the professional force. anyway, let me stop. does anybody have anything to say? yes? jim? >> how do we -- i think we can

all embrace the war your -- warriors ethos. i think what works for us is to have the vignettes and i think we all embrace this and recognize the value of it. at the same time, i would take that knowledge to use it as a means to predict for anticipate the actions of our enemies. who might not embrace this like we do. especially as you just talked about, especially a nuclear armed, you know, persian empire who might not embrace the reality, or might as you say, see the enemy or other tribe or anybody that they choose to identify as alien or infidels. >> yeah, i don't know if the warrior ethos helps us. it only determines what we do. we need them in here to answer that question. but yeah, i don't know.

does anybody have anything to say on that topic? i don't think -- the word ethos seems to me governs our conduct. but you are right, there are not to many enemies these days that are living by those same rules. >> is there a way to maybe take that appreciation of warrior ethos who recognize as not only a sense of porter, but a morality applied to warfare and somehow begin our own campaign, upon the iranian population. >> could be. i mean certainly -- i think our enemies definitely have their own warrior ethos. somehow suicide bombing is an honorable thing. it would help us to really understand that in it's total context; right? religious and historical context, which i don't think we do. i certainly don't. i kind of project my own kind of american values and tweak them, but i know i am not getting it

right. but it certainly would be great if we understand that. and -- >> this one might put you on the spot. it's tied into the same thing. but i think there's evidence that points to every human being is made up of three components, body, soul, or mind, and then a spirit. we train real hard the body, you know, physical finance is important to us. the mental piece of it, your emotions, your intellect, all of that we focus on. there's the theory that if you neglect the spiritual component of those three, then you are not -- you know, you don't have all of the attributes needed to fit into this kind of a culture. and then that leads to problems, a lack of morality, no

conscious, and in the spiritual piece is obviously your connection to god. that kind of constrains you. because it is the source of morality. if you don't have that, you end going off of the charts like the japanese or pacific or like some of our current adversaries are doing with suicide bombings and stuff. what do you think of that? and in your study of history, how does that spiritual component fit into the warrior ethos? >> i think you are absolutely right. that is crucial. certainly people have really different conceptions of what god means and what, you know, what religious means. and i think for us, it tends to be a forgiving or more of an embracing kind of thing, rather than the kill them all, you know, sort it out later. there are lots of other

cultures, that is kind of the idea of spiritual -- spiritualty is. maybe that's kind of where he's pushing it. what is right, what is wrong? what do we believe as americans? i think it's really a work in progress. i mean alexander, that's probably not right, you know, one of the advantages that he had, i think, clearly was that he was -- his religion was polytheistic, multiple gods. when he conquered iraq, he was able to, you know, it was babylonian then, he was able to go to bell marduct which was the god and have a great presession to the temple and see in -- that

zeus. that was okay. he could relate. i'm not generally answering the question. there are a lot of different kinds of spiritualty. we are groping now towards what's ours? you are absolutely right. i think the third dimension is really -- the other two feed into it. without it, no good. sorry, i know that's not the best that i could do. >> thank you. >> i think we -- i think we do pretty good in the army. and when the army didn't have its own code, we created our own code. we got the little green dog tag. it's the leadership act. >> uh-huh. >> or the moral duty respect and integrity. i think that, you know, even the private comes into -- or especially the young person that

comes in the army, enters the army and learns that code. the army teaches you that code, because one the challenges that we have is our young people didn't have it. and so, you know, you can take just about any product today and pull them out and ask them about. tell you all about it and give you the vignettes that we learned in basic. that does give us an accurate and helps us with the morality piece. knowing the difference between right and wrong. and then i think as a culture, we in the military, obviously, we in the army especially, do look to hold people accountable. as you talk about it, we have a group of soldier, or soldier who has gone all of the reservation or errorred from that card if you will. then we're going to hold him accountable. our chill with your with your -r

culture, and i believe our society encourages that. one the things our civilian society doesn't. you talk about it, talk about it your book and talk about it just now. and i think we're all looking for a ways, you know, and even when you look at the polls of the american population, they embrace the military over the people that impose as elected officials out there. how are -- you know, what are your thoughts on how we can promote the concept of service to others, whether it's service into your community, not necessarily service of the trial, service to communities, service to someone else. have you seen anything or have you thought about how or what do you have to share with us on ways that we can promote the goodness that comes from warrior ethos? the goodness that you talk about. we are all internal for ourselves. they do. the conversations that you have when you are the only one in the

room. >> yeah, i think, you know, right now i've seen polls that the armed forces are single most respected institution in the united states by a mile; right? way above congress or anything like that. it's just interesting because i kind of shuttle in and out of both worlds, you know. it's very clear. we were talking about this the other night. the other 99% of the country just doesn't know what the military is about. i mean i come here and say to myself, i wish people could see you guys right now. you know, i wish people could hear what soldiers and marines say and how they act. so if there was just any way to get that -- you know, we need a big publicity. i think, you know, the army and marine corps is already doing everything right. it's just that people don't know about it. it's probably, you know, part of the all volunteer service that it's kind of -- it is a professional force that's, on to

itself. jacksonville, fort lewis, et cetera. :

>> because here in america we can pick those guys out of that isolationist and behavior? >> less. >> to the place in time. >> and all starts at the top. whoever the commanding general hour the political figures above in beyond

that, what they're example is, is filtered down but there is of black train completely. most of those cahal were reservists? note? >> [inaudible] >> that is what i meant. there is a lack of top-down. >> [inaudible] [inaudible]

we have a false sense of our own history. [inaudible] >> that is not what a he was recognized for. >> leed have a sense of history what the american army has done but we have to have a better sense import of the problem today quite frankly we're not american today.

that is why we have national security issues. we are not american. because the politicians have no personal connection. over 100 members of the house and senate who are veterans leading lourdes in their lives -- ordinary lives. [inaudible] they have no point* of reference. there is to groups of people who would knowledge you or pretend to ignore you. but acknowledges it is 55

years and over. they will come up and a look you in the guy. the second part of the group is women whose sons are in the army desperately wanting to know firemen taking care of their sun. the other part pretend that they are responsible for saying something but our society is built that they are guilty. [laughter] >> there is a lot of truth to that [inaudible] [laughter] >> that is our challenge.

when i first got that little card i thought it was a joke. [inaudible] >> my thought process is everybody serves our country. even civilians. when a soldier goes to buy a hamburger, he is serving a soldier. we all contribute to the economy and to some thing. but that is the military's most honorable way. but it is to stop letting civilians no they are very

small. >> that is how you get the civilian population to appreciate what they do. >> when you have an opportunity the then to tell them what it is okay that you didn't. what we put out last night is you could be anything you want to be. this is the life that i chose this is a life that you chose. if you want to be our real estate mogul, a go for it. a rock star? said is the opportunity that everybody does not have to serve. that is okay. >> but something else.

but the concept is you are rewarded for things other than monetary. >> also with those other virtues of the warrior that the warrior ethos has a desire to be grades also a lot of that is the desire to be something part of something greater. [laughter] >> first, a great presentation so few of the citizens apply military

force but in reality today that it is key. so the ability of the warriors although the only way we will get them to do that in the context of modern society to the detriment and spirit to run the day but it will lead us get on with it in future years with a higher standard. the weather is in the u.k. or on trial for murder and then to maintain more high ground so to me answer the

question of if we're on the slippery slope that is what is described. of less we've volunteer because of those values that you describe. because of those 1% of those professional warriors, they maintain the high value is decided in the answer to a higher calling. that is how they killed the other bin laden out there is >> maybe the whole country is in the process now of defining who the united states really is. not just the military but

service and high standards. this particular enemy that does not fight by the rules is making us ask ourselves, what do we really believe? are we an empire? her read the golden city on the hill? this up for grabs. one side of the political spectrum think one thing and the other thinks the other bed to sell many people have dropped out of the process and are not even thinking about it. >> but the standard of society whether blagojevich. [laughter] >> because this is an image in society.

that is why it is the institution people have a high opinion of soldiers that is why they go from the eighth dose like abu ghraib but the rest of society needs to catch up her. >> we have our own. that is why abu ghraib bid is not susceptible in our culture and "the warrior ethos" that a guy that we electrocuted, that's it is not acceptable he may have gone awry with the but does not make it right the wrong. queen of 1 million people, in 2 million that serve in over 200 years of history sillier made up of

people that have bares all throughout our history but at the end of the day we all aspire to something. there is a value to be able to define the moral high ground. even our society looks to us to help define what that is. of our challenges individuals is how we promote that with your neighbor, your church and in your community? how you talk to civilians about their service to the nation? it may be how huge challenge them to go do something else. the expectation that you pay taxes but of what our western culture is how do apply that to get them to do something extra? >> hall looking back at

history to the macedonia part, in your opinion and looking to the future, the society back then has the warrior eighth dose and promote the war fighting ever been our society, 1% of the people doing work, it gets less and less away from the warrior east coast. -- "the warrior ethos" and it seems that has transpired as a whole that it is a winner without having to suffer. do see that with the society losing "the warrior ethos" because congress does not have that for the vast

majority. it is all about self-interest broke how does that play out in the future? >> and kono if that is a good trend. do you? i don't think so. [laughter] but the united states of talk about the sparred and macedonia we are more like happens. that is what i should have been talking about. one of the things that we still have in this society and nobody can come close if you are born in your in the world and they give you a chance to go anywhere you want, where do you go? not rush of not china because here it is part and parcel of of the dow but

here we have the freedom that the 1% of your protecting. but if it were me and we could bilateral and concentrate that rather than become more were like that, it is a tough call. you want it the self discipline but freedom is very important to do whatever you can elevate yourself. now sport and macedonia, sort of fell from excess "the warrior ethos" that they were so hard core and would not even the visitors come because they did not want to be contaminated by the outside influence. so when they achieved a

gemini and were imperial powers, the officers ran amok can work corrupt and people came to hate spared the because they did not have that broader-based. lourdes they were so rigid they never had it. >> we come from society. how can the economy continued forward? as society continues to change how does that affect them? only from what they grow up with a end what are they

bringing to this institute as it goes forward? we have rules and regulations but that moral compass peace is ingrained and something that you grow up with as your personal piece and when the doors are shut, use the by yourself you come up with that decision. now you have all of those soldiers. but as a society to have that accountability, it is not self sustaining how does that affect us in the future? >> a trend going the wrong way and people don't talk about a but society wants to handoff the military to the 1% to make it go away.

we don't want to think about it and that is not healthy. if it was me i would could bring good draft back and if me, i would want to compel people to serve if they wanted to or not. just to get a taste of it. that is a good point* and it is troubling. if you read my new book, the profession, it is about that. >> [inaudible] >> highly structured

organization gets its strength from that but then stifles innovation and people who run into trouble. across the board with any organization, people struggle like apple computer those are the ones like steve jobs to encourages innovation but the army and marine corps are quite too innovative. i don't know how, but the culture does value that. it starts at the top. whoever creates the atmosphere that allows people to step outside their role. if it is the wrong person at the top nobody raises their hand to do anything.

>> [inaudible] talk about has the moral values of that nature. and unfortunately although we may be card carrying values for us to define what honor is. but in knowing what it is to save something for ourselves but across pollinating is helpful so to speak but the

coach from ohio state, but two. [laughter] [inaudible] but we need to have those conversations among ourselves and even though we may come from different places but have the atheist agnostics and religion perspective, i am not squared away with bad guy up above the pact calls from other soldiers when the rubber hits the road and you are ready to the, one mco who is an atheist he has the

army values to follow. >> could you elaborate with your steadies of values and "the warrior ethos." i ask that because for those of their values may be different than mine. but "the warrior ethos" would link us up to work together. but there are differences their rows well. talk about spartans and the value of their country at our time with buy a is a

more have or of society. >> unites certain areas. yes. >> we could have "the warrior ethos" or values. >> kid did say specific sets of values not everybody in america shares did but i do think it is true particularly in tribal societies that something like "the warrior ethos" is the code of the society's who a warrior in american and is there. you are being judged by that standard of the indigenous people. that is what you guys are all about budget to be a

warrior and they are watching. nothing escapes them. but, if you are the true great warrior that respect flows instantly come i am not sure i am answering write. >> but from personal experience that even though values may be different. >> christian vs. islamic? >> over and afghanistan the respect for the female is absolutely different but i still have the same "the warrior ethos". >> q share other values like honor and integrity.

>> guy definitely see two different sides. >> they are intertwined. >> i certainly agree with what you said that there are values that are shared between that indigenous population and the 2% better over there but all of the virtues that we tick off here but you can bond across those that are shared. it is interesting for americans societies to be exposed which we weren't up and tell some of the wars to see people do see the world in a different way at the same time they see similar.

let me release you i figured they should be starting. thank you for coming. thank you for having me and i salute all of you. [applause] >> then there were other stories i've tried to be a big supporter for the arts community but in 1977/76 i got a call from business people who said do you know, mr. dario? he owned the ocean state theater at the time and said he wants to tear that place down. that would be terrible do

you know him? no. but could you call him to make an of appointment? why could you? because you are i die an. [laughter] that is sensitive. so why did in eight days made an appointment and i never forget going up in the big car. these two german shepherds came lending at me and i said to the cops go rank the doorbell. are you nuts? [laughter] he came out and put down the dogs so i went in the house and invited the dogs in the house. [laughter] i gave him the soliloquy why he should not tear the theater down and he said to me a favor and give me the demolition permit i city would not tear it down and he said have you ever heard

of the other one? site for that down. >> so you mean business. i convinced him to come to my office on monday. i said we could not put him in the same room for because they hated each other. so he went to negotiate the deal. we didn't know we would do that much but he was sitting in my office and they all said yes. then dario said afterwards what about might other $40,000? he said they promised me $1,000 per day to negotiate. has been 40 days. i have never heard miller's where in my life.