Protecting the Enemy

According to various writings, Sun Tzu, one of the greatest military minds according to many, was in a difficult situation. His army was greatly outnumbered and he had to do something quickly or lose all. His solution was to move his army to a place he would term as a dead space. This was because it was a spot which was far from allies and support. There were no nearby refuges, supplies, or help of any kind. His soldiers were truly on their own. He was counting on his soldiers to understand the desperation of their situation. He wanted them to understand that there was no help, no cavalry to save the day. Only way to survive would be to fight like they had never fought before.

Another military mind was also in a similar situation. His army was held up within a walled city which lay under siege by a larger force. Supplies were running out as well as morale of the soldiers and the citizens. History is full of incidents where a soldier or citizen of a town sold out their compatriots when rationing was increased and starvation a real threat, when all hope seemed to be gone or in the case of Antioch during the first crusade when a commander decided he wanted the wife of a subordinate and the subordinate got his revenge. However, this general came up with an idea. He had spies in the enemy's camp and one was able to advise the enemy leader how best to crush the people in the town's resolve to fight. Early in the morning, the soldiers and townspeople awoke to a horrendous event. On the hills surrounding the town, the sieging army was skinning prisoners in plain sight, allowing their screams to echo through the town.

According to these records, in both situations the underdogs would prevail. In one situation the general put his soldiers into a hopeless, desperate scenario. In the second tale the sieging leader was encouraged to show the soldiers and people of the town of what he was capable. In both scenarios the soldiers fought like they had never fought before. They knew or saw what was going to happen. They knew this was it and they unleashed their desperation, fear, impending doom on their foes who for the most part were far too overconfident in what they perceived was advantageous situation. In both tales, the desperate sides prevailed, winning stunning victories from which their foes were hard pressed to recover.

Sure, things could have gone awry. Soldiers could have thought that this was it, so we might as well give up, but they knew what their fates would be. This told them that giving up was not an option. They knew they were going to die and possibly horribly, painfully in the extreme. Their only choice was to either fight to the death, a far quicker death, or win. Humans aren't the only ones who do this. Any animal which believes it is in a desperate situation will unleash that desperation to try to preserve itself.

One time, a young neighbor of mine asked me if I could help her. She lived on the second floor of a house with an outside staircase leading to her door. When she came home from work, she found an opossum at the top of the stairs on the little landing before her door. She asked if I could help and I said that I was willing to try. I grabbed a stick and stood off to the side of the stairs and used it to reach up and prod the opossum. It didn't work because she was standing at the bottom trying to watch what was happening. I told her that she had to leave an escape route for the opossum. She moved back a little. I told her that it wasn't what she thought was safe. It had to be what the opossum perceived as safe and told her to just move out of sight of the opossum. She did but the opossum wouldn't budge. I remembered she had a dog and asked her if her dog was in a pen of if it had run of the house. She told me that the dog was running free in the apartment. I then changed my strategy to knocking on the door with the stick and move back when the dog started barking at the door. Once I was back far enough that the opossum couldn't see me, it made a run for it, and everyone was good.

I learned the power of desperation when I was in the army. I was told that you must safeguard prisoners. They were not to be used as human shields, tortured, beaten, murdered, or even robbed. When given the opportunity, we were to take a prisoner, and after disarming and securing the prisoner, we were to ensure their safety to the rear where they would be processed and questioned. This included taking care of their wounded. I was told this was what we did even if the enemy didn't extend the same to our forces.

I learned it wasn't about taking the moral high ground and doing what was humane. It wasn't about the idea that we were the good guys, and we didn't stoop to that level. Yes, those are good reasons. It is always great to do what is right and it is nice to be proud of your actions but there was an extremely important strategic value to this tactic. Yes, it is a tactic, a very important one.

To quote Major General Sherman, "War is hell." A soldier finds themselves far from loved ones or actually in the act of protecting their homeland from invasion. They are an individual lost in a sea of individuals. Our soldier is in a situation where they may be required to endure hardships and constant fear of a short life expectancy or horrible maiming. One moment they could be relaxing and enjoying a break and the next, die slowly in a field, a jungle alone. They are constantly reminded of the possibilities of what could be awaiting them through the deaths and maiming of others around them. There is no break, whether asleep in the barracks, a tent, a fox hole or wide awake, things could go to hell without a moment's notice.

This is where the tactic of safeguarding enemy prisoners comes into play. Enemy forces are filled with many of the same hopes and fears our soldiers have. They will defend their people as long as they believe they must. The more they believe they are dealing with a monstrosity of an invader, the harder they will fight to protect what they love. Erwin Rommel wasn't suicidal but when he learned what would happen to his family, he bravely accepted the cyanide capsule. That is one of the main reasons soldiers face death, to protect the ones they love as well as achieving what they can for their loved ones. But what if the ones they are fighting aren't a threat to what they love? What if the attacking force is humane?

Giving our foes the opportunity to surrender without fear is an attempt to alleviate the desperation our foes may be feeling. It is a chance to reduce the punishment they are unleashing on our forces. If our enemy realizes that we aren't monsters, that we will allow our enemies the chance to sit out the rest of the war in relative safety, if they realize that their families and homes will not be ravaged and plundered, they may not feel the need to risk their lives. Remove the desperation, remove a lot of resistance.

When President Bush allowed waterboarding, I never felt more embarrassed of being an American. We don't do that. On top of that feeling of embarrassment I found myself highly concerned for the well-being of our forces who may have been captured. By President Bush greenlighting torture, he gave the okay for the enemy to reciprocate.

Currently, our country is blowing up speed boats which may or may not be transporting drugs. This is the reason for due process. You stop the suspected vessel and search it. If it tries to run, then yes, fire warning shots. If after searching, they do find drugs, then prosecute. When it comes down to it, if we are just blowing boats out of the water, where is the proof that they are drug runners?

On top of that, I also realize that when you interrupt a supply route, it is only a matter of time before people wanting to ship drugs here find better, safer routes. The boats may be decoys to distract our navy from intercepting the true shipments. We don't know, because the boats have been blown up and the survivors have been machine gunned in the water. There is no proof to what President Trump is claiming, just dead bodies floating in debris. Where are the drugs?

All of this brings up the idea that they aren't going to surrender or stop because they know they will be killed. They are desperate.

In closing, I'd like to say that the best way to end the drug trafficking is to end the demand. However, that would bring up questions about our society which I'm sure would scare those in power.