Karl von Clausewitz's great work Vom Kriege, or On War, has been the Bible of the military for 150 years. According to Hugh Nibley, the Book of Mormon reads as if it were written by a diligent student of this work.
In this work, one of the principal maxims says the following: "The aggressor always pretends to be peace-loving because he would like to achieve his conquests without bloodshed . . . Therefore, aggression must be presented as a defensive reaction by the aggressor nation." Nobody ever attacks. You're always just on the defensive. After World War I, the German War Office, Kriegsamt, changed its name to Wehrmact, "defense power." We changed our War Office to the Department of Defense. We're just defensive now, that's all. Both sides must take the defensive position, whether they are aggressors or not. We see good examples in the Book of Mormon in the case of Giddianhi and Lachoneus. Giddianhi writes to Lachoneus, "We wouldn't bother you except you're infringing on our rights of government, our ancient society, which is old and venerable and you've been the aggressor against us." (cf. 3 Nephi 3:9-10). This is true, though since the loser must always submit to the winner, each side is always fighting for its freedom. . . . We have a Defense Department, if you please, all throughout the world. [Hugh Nibley, "Warfare in the Book of Mormon," in Warfare In The Book Of Mormon, pp. 129-130]