War, Negotiation and Peace
Warrior's Strategies
When engaging a war, a leader has to consider the morale and strength of his forces, arms and ammunition, support base, strategies, and many others. He has to know also himself more than just knowing his enemy. When he finds out that he is in the winning stance and everything is going fine, he could pursue his goal until victory is achieved. However, if he finds out that his men has low morale, insufficient in arms and ammunition, no popular support, and ineffective operations, the leader might be tempted to negotiate in order buy time while consolidating his forces. In other words, negotiation is indicates incapacity of prolonging the war.
Build a strong support by good community relations - defend rather than depend. Gain rather than demand respect, develop love rather hatred but firm in decision making. Lay low but alert to respond when situation demands. Show goodwill to the enemy’s mass base but not begging for their support for begging is weakness. Work with them rather than for them. Help them stand with their own feet rather than to be dependent. On the one hand these are some of the strategies that could be done but not to negotiate.
On the other hand, if the leader finds out that his enemies are at a losing side and to continue fighting is just an exercise in futility, he may negotiate to save lives. Though the intention is humanitarian it is still thought as weakness or even adding insult to injury.
For a person raised as a warrior, every effort done by the enemy (be it good or bad) is always considered negative. In the case between the government and the rebels, efforts for development like infrastructures: buildings, roads and bridges is not welcome for it means constriction of their movements for the military could have easy access to the territories they controlled. Hence, they must sabotage any development effort for development.
But sabotage has many forms, not paying taxes, selling smuggled goods, stealing and destroying office supplies and equipment and simple forms of sabotaging the government – their little contribution to their war efforts. In the case of non-rebels, those that are doing these practices without any political agenda are simple petty criminals for they simply steal.
In many instances, I heard Muslim government employees saving something for the rebels. The money that the government give them as salaries is the same money given to support the very people fighting against the government. Is this a crime? For them it is not because it is their means of undermining the government they consider as their enemy. This is the cycle ever since.
