Sometimes I find myself trying to avoid the news. Almost always it is bad news and because it is on a global scale, it is often horrendously disturbing. Call me an ostrich but I often choose to avoid it. I am unable to do anything about 99.9% of the problems so I try to take a calm approach to current events.Technology has provided us with the ability to become aware of every event in the world instantaneously and, as in the case of war, we can now have live broadcasts. One may think that these events are more frequent then in previous generations, but I think they have always been happening. The only difference is now we are so much more aware of everything going on.
One of the most common news items is war. The Face of War has changed so much over the years. I don't want to say it has evolved because that insinuates improvement.
During the American Revolution, the British would wear bright red uniforms and march abreast into battle, easy for the Colonists to pick them off. The musketmen were usually lined up in three ranks, bringing the maximum number of muskets to bear on the enemy. Firing rank-by-rank, the massed musketmen could fire nine volleys per minute.
As Mankind developed better ways to kill, battles became more elusive, even scientific, if you will. War tactics have been perfected over the years by strategists like Sun Tzu, and Carl von Clausewitz.
With the start of the Vietnam War, a new term became part of our vocabulary, Guerrilla Warfare. Guerrilla Warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which a small group of combatants such as armed civilians or irregulars use tactics such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run, and mobility to fight a larger and less-mobile traditional military.
Fast forward to today when the news reports are heavily entrenched with Terrorism. Terrorism is commonly defined as violent acts (or the threat of violent acts) intended to create fear, perpetrated for a religious, political, or ideological goal, and which deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants.
When war occurs, there is always ideology involved. Either it is the cause of the war or the justification of it. Often times the attackers or defenders feel that their god is on their side. What if both sides feel they are sanctioned by their deity? Does that mean there are two gods involved or does it mean there is one god and that one side has got it wrong?
No matter how tragic an event that takes place today, you can find an event that is equally tragic somewhere in the history of Mankind. That being said, along with any civilization's god I feel that there is also a devil that may be an influencing factor over the minds of some warmakers.
As I said, I am not a big fan of the news. Call me whatever you like, that is the way it is. I do believe, however, that I am very fortunate to live in a time and place where I am relatively free of the dangers of Man's inhumanity to Man. (Is there a more politically correct way to say that?)
However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. - Winston Churchill
