COMensarations
Monday, November 21, 2005
War Plans, Explained
Not!
Of late, everyone seems to want to know EXACTLY what President Bush is going to do in Iraq. It’s as if they’re looking to get to the end of the action adventure novel. But they can’t. Why? Well, because the author has not released all the segments. They’re coming in weekly installments.
This seems to upset some people. Even fellow M, Chris Muir is catching the bug. At least that’s how it seems from today’s [051121] installment of Day by Day. [Note: Can’t find the permalink so if you don’t see what I’m talking about, go to the 21 Nov 05 installment of the superb cartoon series.]
Sorry, but that’s the way life is, folks. You don’t really know what’s going to happen next. And this is especially true when it comes to fighting a war. There is a method to the madness. A wise commander does not tell the enemy what his plans are. The Duke of Wellington, before the battle of Waterloo, was asked what his plans were. And when he refused to divulge them and was pressed as to why, he replied, “If the hair on my head knew my plans, I would shave it off and wear a wig.”
And, whereas Babe Ruth was famous for pointing to where he was going to send his next hit, I’ll remind people that war is NOT a spectator sport. It’s a murderous one. And the less the enemy knows of our plans the better for US and the worse for them.
In the military we refer to this as maintaining OPSEC; Operational Security. It saves lives on the battlefield and it shortens the length of the war. More on that later....