 |
| The Shogan and the Emperor |
The Ideal Warfigher is one who fights when necessary to
advance the cause of his polity (nation, tribe, family) in ways that support
the process of survival. This is
fundamentally, the feeding and breeding of same in ways the nurture and
protects the future, children who can cope as in sustained survival of children
at puberty at a ratio of 2.1 per couple.
Failure to do so means the polity dies or dies out.
1
 |
| The Psychological Roles needed for Survival for players pro and con |
The operative term is protection as in against those who
would destroy the ability of the polity to survive. This is the psychological aspect of
nurturing and protecting against threats, often called villains. The process of
protection has defensive and offensive sides one of which is directed at the
villains own ability to survive. Hence one man’s hero is another’s villain.
2
Victory in any such conflict occurs when both hero and
villain benefit from the arrangements post combat. And believe it so. The current imbroglio in the Muddled East is
largely due to the inability for the combatants to get to a mutually
satisfactory post combat arrangement.
All the firepower, maneuver, and destruction of war that
ignores this is a pure waste and a threat to the survival of all combatants to
the party.
If you know your enemy and you know yourself you need not fear the
results of a hundred battles.
If you know yourself but not
the enemy for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.
If you know neither the enemy nor yourself you will succumb in every
battle.
Sun Tzu’s advice applies to all walks of life. Especially in divorce court.
Family Values
Knowing enemies, friendlies or those on the fence depends
upon the array of psychological roles and attendant sociological rules that
make up the substance of cultural or marker awareness.
3
 |
| The Sociological Rules that support the Psychological Roles |
For the professional warmonger, T.E. Lawrence’s 27 Articles is a brilliant case study sadly
ignored in the late unpleasantness. Rules
such as these change with each culture.
- Go easy for the first few weeks
- .Get to know their families, clans and
tribes, friends and enemies, wells, hills and roads
- In matters of business deal only with
the commander…. of the army. Never give orders to anyone at all.
- Win and keep the confidence of your
leader
5.
Remain in touch with your leader as
constantly and unobtrusively as you can
6.
Be shy of too close relations with the
subordinates of the expedition
7.
Treat the sub-chiefs of your force
quite easily and lightly
8.
Your ideal position is when you are
present and not noticed
9.
Magnify and develop the growing
conception of the Sherifs as the natural aristocracy…
10.
Call your Sherif 'Sidi' in public and
in private
11.
The foreigner and Christian is not a
popular person in Arabia
12.
Cling tight to your sense of humour.
You will need it every day.
13.
Never lay hands on an Arab; you degrade
yourself.
14.
While very difficult to drive, the Bedu
are easy to lead.
15.
Do not try to do too much with your own hands.
16.
A well-placed gift is often most
effective in winning over a suspicious sheikh. Never receive a present without giving
a liberal return,
17.
Wear an Arab head cloth when with a
tribe. Bedu have a malignant prejudice against the hat,
18.
Complete success, which is when the Arabs
forget your strangeness and speak naturally before you, counting you as one of
themselves,
19.
If you wear Arab things, wear the best
20.
If you wear Arab things at all, go the
whole way.
21.
Religious discussions will be frequent.
Say what you like about your own side, and avoid criticism of theirs, unless
you know that the point is external.
22.
Do not try to trade on what you know of
fighting. The Hejaz confounds ordinary tactics
23.
Allusion is more effective than logical
exposition: they dislike concise expression
24.
Do not mix Bedu and Syrians, or trained
men and tribesmen
25.
Avoid too free talk about women. It is
as difficult a subject as religion, and their standards are so unlike our own
26.
Be as careful of your servants as of
yourself
27.
Bury yourself in Arab circles, have no
interests and no ideas except the work in hand,
4
 |
| Lawrence at Aqaba |
Psychological Operations.
The supreme art of war is to subdue the
enemy without fighting. Sun Tzu
In short, winning wars that stay won requires knowing the
right motivation for the right people in the right place with the right kind of
power. In Cold War terms, these are key
communicators, as those who had links to people we could not talk to. A two-step process. And who were open to selected themes and
symbols. Of special note, these key
communicators are those who may or may not hate out guts.
5
The Polish Underground in WW2 stopped war production for the
Germans for one whole day by issuing a single official looking flyer announcing
that all workers could take Hitler’s Birthday, off. Better than a thousand bomber raid.
All Politics is Local and run
by the Construction and Entertainment businesses.
As earth bound creatures, who goes where to do what is
implicit in breeding and feeding.
Whether this be a fishing boat, a crib, or in one’s MacMansion in the
‘burbs is the domain of the General Contractor, Building Inspector, Hooker and
Pharaoh. As it is inferred in the Old Testament, Moses
was a Building Inspector for the Pharaoh who crossed the General Contractor who
got Moses tossed in the mud to make below code bricks (as in without straw).
6
 |
| Making Brick with Straw ... Code Compliant |
Terrain and trafficability analysis by Moses left the pursuing
Pharaoh’s panzers swimming with the fishes.
7
 |
| Moses Parts the Sea |
All politics is local, and all local politics is about use
and not use of the land. Getting to
local brings the best fruit. All
politicians above the local level succor the support of the construction and
entertainment industries. Therein lies
the Achilles’ Heels.
8
 |
| The Governator |
Entertainment.
Should one doubt the depth of sincerity herein depicted, it should be noted
that Sun Yat Sen’s base of power in China were the Triads, Tongs, and other
previously pro-Ming Anti-Machu gambling, prostitution and protection
rackets. Chiang Kai Check’s power base
in Shanghai was the Green Gang.
Real Estate. The
plantation owners of the Virginia Tidelands dominated US politics until they
went South. When Oil replaced Wool and
Cotton, who drilled where and when runs deep in the political bedrock. A necessary precursor to oil is the steel
industry. The present conflicts in the
Ukraine are over the Soviet built Don Bass Iron and Coal triangle. We call this industrial real estate.
Highways and Byways,
Rivers and Ridges
Commerce and war move along those routes where the going is
easiest which normally includes rivers, high ground, and low ground approaches
and restricted where high ground intersects such as passes, and cross
corridors. Generally speaking, towns
will grow on the opposite side of a barrier, such as a mountain pass, river and
big thickets. This can be represented by
a pair of hands:
9
 |
| Movement is best with the grain, opposed across |
Whether by commerce,
piracy, governance or war, the control of key pieces of ground by one or
another goes to three levels of significance: Strategic, Operational, and/or
Tactical. This applies to marketing
grapefruit as well as firepower:
10
Forking, the Indirect Approach.
Liddell Hart, in reaction to the carnage of WW 2, advocated
the Indirect Approach, in which the enemy was placed on the horns of a dilemma,
trying to cover more courses of action than could be handled:
From Liddell Hart. "In
Strategy the longest way around is often the shortest way there. A direct approach
to the object exhausts the attacker and hardens the resistance by compression,
where as an indirect approach loosens the defender's hold by upsetting his
balance".[1]
From Sun Tzu: "In all
fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect
methods will be needed in order to secure victory. In battle, there are not
more than two methods of attack – the direct and the indirect; yet these two in
combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers. The direct and the
indirect lead on to each other in turn. It is like moving in a circle – you
never come to an end. Who can exhaust the possibilities of their
combination?"[2]
The Force
There are two kinds of warriors: Farmers and Hunters. No combat ready force passes an inspection,
and many inspection ready forces are doomed.
Farmers need directions, hunters need an incentive.
11
 |
| German Dead in Russia |
The Chain of Command is no stronger than its weakest links. Nor can it stand alone on the bottom link.
Nor can it be separated from the whole of the endeavor. Train from the top
down, not the bottom up. The smallest parts only work in the sense of the
larger whole; the squad works in the context of battles by four levels up, no
less.
12
 |
| Peace on Earth |
All living creatures carry battle drill in the genes, often first shown
as play. Hide and Seek is an evasion
drill as are hiding in dark or high places. “ Keep Away” is about being the
dinner or the diner. “Ring around the
rosey” is about the Black Death.
13
 |
| Keep Away |
Battles are won or lost in context of the whole sensory environment;
sights, sounds, smells, taste and touch. Of these, smell is the oldest and bypasses all
others to the brain.
14
 |
| Full Sensory Context of Battle |
While once not too many centuries ago, technological change was slow,
often centuries in the making. Now it is in the blink of an eye. Knowing the range of shifting options of the
Tactical Imperatives is critical in lasting until lunch. These are extensions of the parts of the body
in four modes which ricochet to create a kaleidoscope of options.
15
 |
| Faster than the blink of an eye |
Despite the best efforts of your best, it is best to get the best deal
for the standing.
16
 |
| Home Again, Home Again |
Hic finitur Lectio
