As a Marine, I think Gen. Krulack took the readiness as a given when he said that. It sort of paraphrases the Bulow quote I posted: "To the meaningless French ideals of liberty, fraternity, and equality, we propose the three German realities; Infanty, Cavalry, and Artillery." The French dream of peace, while the Germans prepare for war. (back then.)
Sun Tzu encouraged commanders to only bring battle when it was the last resort, and even then only when victory was assured by being fluid enough to change the situation as it and the intel changed. Eastern military philosophy is centered more on strategy than Western (mostly) is. They realized tactics are fluid, and to an extent, strategy can, and sometimes, must be, too.
We (The US) are getting better at this, but even though every officer candidate (and many a regular soldier) studies Sun-Tzu, many get the wrong message from it. Our saving grace is that unlike other militaries, ours rewards mavericks when they are successful.