If you read “Master Sun’s Military Methods”, you will immediately know why the US were defeated in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq etc., although the book was written 2,500 years ago. One of Sun Zi’s core precepts is the avoidance of attrition warfare, if not any direct engagement with the enemy whatsoever. Master Sun’s treatise is timeless, yet I sometimes defy this insight, and in an uphill battle against the toughest of enemies. “If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by.” — sᴛᴀʀᴛᴜᴘ ᴅᴀᴇᴍᴏɴ (@startupdaemon) February 27, 2018 Attrition warfare against a powerful adversary is a gruesome affair. Therefore, I must begin with a word of caution. This is not at all advisable even if you have decades of experience in power tangling publicly or covertly. If you have little practice in the game of power or you are in a vastly inferior position, Master Sun’s original work is to be followed to the letter. Winning an attrition engagement with a strong enemy – and without meeting Pyrrhus’s fate – is a very intricate endeavor that requires immense attention to detail, flexibility, situational awareness and intuitive grasp of how to act from moment to moment. To facilitate understanding, I have divided the process into phases, but they usually overlap, so don’t take this as a step-by-step “attrition for dummies”. You can never account for all the twists and complications. This is NOT something dummies and novices should attempt without a powerful ally to bail them out when they mess it up, as they inevitably will. I myself have done it only a few times (although never regretted it), and have no intention of doing it again unless absolutely necessary. To help both you and me internalize the abstractness of this missive and achieve more … Continue reading Virtu in Attrition Warfare