WARS CHANGE, WARRIORS DON'T We are all warriors. Each of us struggles every day to define and defend our sense of purpose and integrity, to justify our existence on the planet and to understand, if only within our own hearts, who we are and what we believe in. Do we fight by a code? If so, what is it? What is the Warrior Ethos? Where did it come from? What form does it take today? How do we (and how can we) use it and be true to it in our internal and external lives? The Warrior Ethos is intended not only for men and women in uniform, but artists, entrepreneurs and other warriors in other walks of life. The book examines the evolution of the warrior code of honor and "mental toughness." It goes back to the ancient Spartans and Athenians, to Caesar's Romans, Alexander's Macedonians and the Persians of Cyrus the Great (not excluding the Garden of Eden and the primitive hunting band). Sources include Herodotus, Thucydides, Plutarch, Xenophon, Vegetius, Arrian and Curtius--and on down to Gen. George Patton, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, and Israeli Minister of Defense, Moshe Dayan.

Colonel Neil Sedak, like others in uniform, is not seen as a hero. A nonstereotypical army officer without the hard edge expected of those sworn to defend America, Sedaks lifetakes a different turn after the events of September 11, 2001 lead him into a downward spiral. But when his former boss asks Sedakto meet with him, suddenly everything changes again. Jerry Brynes, now working for a defense contractor, reveals a shocking clandestine plan instigated by several people in the WhiteHouse: America is going to pivot its attention from Afghanistan to Iraq, start a war, and then repair, replace, or improve theinfrastructure destroyed during the battle. After Brynes convinces Sedak to retire and start a competitive security fi rm that caters to the smaller companies that also want in on the deal, troops and contractors invade the Middle East where combat is just beginningwithin a chaotic environment fueled by depravity, greed, murder, and heroism. But as the clock ticks away and more lives are lost,everyone wonders if America can ever win a war based on an illegal premise. War and Forbearance shares a powerful tale about modern warfare, its corruptions, successes, and troubling effects on its participants as America stumbles into Iraq in a post-September 11, 2001 world.