Classicist William Mullen has a column on how the critics of the Iraq war misuse Thucydides to support their case. He ends with this interesting quote from the ancient Greek historian:
In those dark times, “the blunter wits, for the most part, did the best. Concerned about their own weak points and their enemies’ cunning, and that they would be worsted verbally and surprised by their enemies’ versatile wits, they framed preemptive measures and boldly put them into action. Their adversaries, on the other hand, contemptuously figured that they could detect everything beforehand and would not need to take action when it was possible to get by on their wits. And so, more often than not, they were caught off guard and undone.”