Weapons Delivery

Unforeseen Consquences

American political leaders call for military action because it seems like a decisive and strong thing to do. But restraint often takes greater resolve. Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu once wrote: “Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance by clever means ...before fighting. If you know neither your enemy nor yourself, you will be defeated in every battle." By repeatedly engaging in interventions without a proper understanding of our enemy ...and without a better understanding of the consequences of our own actions (stabilizing the region !?) ...we have weakened our nation security, not bolstered it. Terrorism perpetuates terrorism ...and right now in the eyes of the Middle East we are the terrorists. The law of unforeseen consequences does not reward recklessness.

Divide and be conquered

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear defeat. 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 are assured defeat in every battle.” - Sun Tzu 

 The war in Iraq started with a misconception showing how little we knew the enemy. The outcome was unpredictable. ISIS is the result. Our response to ISIS has been divisive. We’ve attacked ourselves, accused the Commander in Chief of complicity and perpetuated myths instead of promoting unity and understanding. Trump is the result.

A parable

Once upon a time in a world not long ago ..a succession of countries held sway over the planet. A great war ensued and two countries were left standing. The two countries remained in contention for nearly half a century. Then one let it’s infrastructure decay and economy falter while pouring it’s national treasure into the military. They became stuck in an unending war in Afghanistan. The other country watched in amazement while their former adversary became weaker and weaker and then totally disintegrated. Amazement gave way to arrogance. Arrogance gave way to recklessness and they made the most puzzling decision. They chose to follow the same path that lead to the downfall of their former adversary. Moral …? I guess strength doesn’t always override poor decision-making.

Sun Tzu

“Knowing yourself and your adversaries is the surest path to victory / knowing yourself but not your adversaries is a less certain path to victory / not knowing yourself nor your adversaries is the surest path to defeat.”

I guess that means the one with better information wins ..

Sun Tzu

“If the Taliban was trying to play on unease among Afghans and Western governments about the ability of the police and army to safeguard the country, they chose the right target and time.”

If the Taliban want to prolong a ground war with allied forces, they’re doing exactly the right thing! What better way to jeopardize troop reductions than by conducting assaults on high-profile targets and boasting about their strength over the Internet. If they really want to win control of the region, I think they’d be better off laying-low and keeping us misinformed. I mean, why not have us believe their supreme leader is dead. It would bolster the illusion that Afghan forces are ready to safeguard the country and keep troop withdrawals on-schedule. In due time they’d be left with a weaker adversary who they stand a better chance of defeating. Maybe then they can put down their guns and pick up some kind of responsible position in government. However, the way they’re acting now leads me to believe they really don’t want this war to end.