The War Amongst the People is Different

It is the reality in which the people in the streets and houses, and fields--all the people anywhere--are the battlefield.

This is basically due to a deep and abiding confusion between deploying a force and employing force.

Military force when employed has only two immediate effects it kills people and destroys things.

Yet it must always be made legal.  The use of military force is seen as an act of last resort to be entered into only after all other measures to achieve a resolution have been exhausted.

What is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy; next best is to disrupt his alliances; next is to attack his army.

Attacking the army brings us to the tactical level where we find battles, engagements and fights.  Tactical warfare is akin to the art of boxing.

War amongst the people is mostly a tactical event with occasional forays into theatre level--yet there will be no decisive victories and solutions. 

Rather than war and peace, there is no predefined sequence nor is peace necessity either the staring or end point:  conflicts are resolved, but not necessarily confrontations.

Therefore, every element of force must be understood as a product of the circumstance in which it was created or used. 

This dependence on the circumstances of the day, and understanding their significance is the true framework of military activity. 

Every single force, is constructed in accordance with a purpose.

The greater the coherence the greater the chance of the force succeeding in battle.

Beyond geography, money has always been the greatest deciding factor in the structure of a force.

These three elements of ends, ways and means are eternal to the use of force and if they are not clearly defined and the balance between them correctly struck, there is very little chance of success in any military operation.





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