Politics Is The Womb In Which War

The World Has A Way Of Undermining Complex Plans. This Is Particularly True In Fast Moving Environments. A Fast Moving Environment Can Evolve More Quickly Than A Complex Plan Can Be Adapted To It. By The Time You Have Adapted, The Target Has Changed.

Any Complex Activity, If It Is To Be Carried On With Any Degree Of Virtuosity, Calls For Appropriate Gifts Of Intellect And Temperament. If They Are Outstanding And Reveal Themselves In Exceptional Achievements, Their Possessor Is Called A 'genius'.

[the Cause Of Inaction In War] ... Is The Imperfection Of Human Perception And Judgment Which Is More Pronounced In War Than Anywhere Else. We Hardly Know Accurately Our Own Situation At Any Particular Moment While The Enemy's, Which Is Concealed From Us, Must Be Deduced From Very Little Evidence.

The Invention Of Gunpowder And The Constant Improvement Of Firearms Are Enough In Themselves To Show That The Advance Of Civilization Has Done Nothing Practical To Alter Or Deflect The Impulse To Destroy The Enemy, Which Is Central To The Very Idea Of War.

Politics Is The Womb In Which War Develops.