WARFARE: THE WAY OF DECEPTION

Raven has been busy: Sitting on the edge of the roof of the house declaiming his theories, laughing at the animals and people below, singing his personal Ode to Joy.

He and I have entered the text of Sun Tzu’s Art of War to see if there are applications for the world in this moment.

Raven is humming as he reads.

Doesn’t he think this is a little complicated to digest at one sitting?

“I thought we agreed on the process: Enter the waterfall from where you are now.” Raven points a talon to this blog page.

Rave, can we open the other window now?

***Warfare is the Way of deception. Therefore, if able, appear unable, if active, appear not active, if near, appear far, if far, appear near. If they have advantage, entice them; if they are confused, take them, if they are substantial, prepare for them, if they are strong, avoid them, if they are angry, disturb them, if they are humble, make them haughty, if they are relaxed, toil them, if they are united, separate them. Attack where they are not prepared, go out to where they do not expect. This specialized warfare leads to victory, and may not be transmitted beforehand. ***

“This implies that there are two entities. Do you see, at this moment, an entity that is the enemy of the US and who is poised to go to war to defeat your country?”

That could be just about anybody, Rave. Bush is not even able to make allies of his allies.

“Ha ha. If you are going to continue with your flippant comments, you can read this window with somebody else.”

Raven is oversensitive. I see his point. Everything that the US is doing to announce their “war” indicates that it is not a war. At least not in Sun Tzu’s lexicon.

***No nation has ever benefited from protracted warfare. Therefore, if one is not fully cognizant of the dangers inherent in doing battle, one cannot fully know the benefits of doing battle. ***

So. Deja vu all over again. Vietnam, right?

“Could be. Those guys think they’ll be in an out of Bagdad in a flash. But since when have they convinced us they are right about anything?”

***Therefore I say: One who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be in danger in a hundred battles. One who does not know the enemy but knows himself will sometimes win, sometimes lose. One who does not know the enemy and does not know himself will be in danger in every battle. ***

Does anybody really know anybody else these days?

“This is not one of those New Age self-improvement books.” Raven is becoming impatient. “If you’re going to know the enemy, you first need to figure out who the enemy is. First the enemy was Osama Bin Laden. Then suddenly it was Saddam Hussein. Now there’s guy in North Korea who’s a voice crying in the wilderness wanting to be recognized.”

And....?

“Something stinks here. Either the US government has no idea who its enemy is, or it plans to make war against everybody.”

Sounds bad, Rave. But let’s read the rest of the text?

“The stink of confusion and subterfuge is making me hungry. I am going to scavenge for awhile. You read the rest of the text.”

Raven flies off.