Book excerpt: This book is now on the U.S. Army's most prestigious pre-deployment reading list. Since 9/11, our deployed troops have learned many things. Though the war in Afghanistan is still raging, many of their hard-won lessons have yet to assimilated by the Stateside bureaucracy. To help, Militant Tricks has recounted America's progress in Iraq and Afghanistan from the standpoint of East Asian deception. Both countries were part of the Mongol Empire for over 200 years and thus prone to every sort of ancient Chinese illusion. Militant Tricks also contains the tactical "techniques" with which to counter an Islamic extremist's urban offensive. While some of these nontraditional techniques were risked during the Baghdad Surge, they may soon be forgotten.