About war.

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I have explored many venues of war.  Personally.  Tight quarter, distant engagements, armed and hand to hand, social, martial, and romantic in various ways.  I have fought with others, against the environment, and against my own body, mind, and will.  I have fought with and against allies, former allies, and outright enemies.  And yet I know so little.  No matter how easy, or impossible, it seems, war, as with life, is not ours to command.  There are a few truths to conflict, as I have seen things.

You truly are your worst enemy.  If you do not know this particular enemy then you can know no other enemy.  Your weaknesses, your strengths, your oddities, all add up to define your best firing solution.  Knowing your weaknesses does not mean you avoid them, it only means you learn to compensate, strengthen, or cover.  Then you keep these close to the vest.  The enemy, your allies, war, and how things work out will require you to hit your weak points.  Know these, and work them, while finding workarounds for them.  But do not ignore your strengths.  Just as we have a left and right hand, one generally stronger, the other generally more tactile.  What seems a weakness may actually merely be a different function.  Spend the time to learn, know, and use what is right for what it was intended, adding some crossover where possible.

Your enemy must be known.  Methods, strengths and weaknesses, motives, styles, and more.  When possible, these must be exploited.  Intelligence is vital.  There is always easy information, which is often worth every penny paid for it.  Much as advice.  Only one thing beats eyes and ears you trust.  Your own eyes and ears and thoughts on what you perceive.  And yet, in many situations, using others who can translate, look for design and pattern outside your own ken, is quite useful.  For social affairs, few are as on the ball as my mother, for example.  She just knows some things.  Things that do not translate into a simple language or method.  That is her game and she plays very well.  Choose your advisers well, and test them with things you perceive to surety.  Don't mix and match.  I would not ask my mother for advice in how to handle a particular opponent regarding martial concerns.  I would also not ask my man friends about a social event and how it work, or a woman on how best to romance women.  However, that doesn't meant they aren't useful.  Create a scenario for a woman, ignore her words, watch her reactions.  She will tell you, just not with logic or in words.  Though, sometimes, you either just know or you don't.  That is when experience is your friend, and perhaps only ally.

War is a game of attrition.  Some have to win, some have to lose.  Some war is more final, though all of it ends up sure, mostly.  You can defeat your enemy but at the risk of losing.  One of the finest methods of winning involve nothing more than the mind.  Convince your enemy that they aren't an enemy, or convince them that they are their own worst enemy, leaving you in peace.  If you will not win or if the price of winning is heftier than the prize.  Or for moments, until you are ready or the prize and costs are more in balance.  Defeating an enemy, using themselves, is one of the finest of arts.  Some call it diplomacy, some call it psychological ops.  If I am correct, I call it wisdom.  Make sure you are right, correct, true, or at least that you believe, before trying this or you will be eaten.  Even if you succeed, you will be eaten by yourself.  All swords must be true, including the tongue.

There is only one sure way to win.  Never to make war.  Unfortunately, or not... we are a competitive group of species, even within our own designs.  Even should we live in such luxury that war does not seem fruitful, those who do not live in such luxury will come for that luxury, even just a piece of it.  It isn't a choice and tech can only do just so much.  The rest is up to you, so be ready.  You can't choose, and you won't always win, and there will always be a price.  Still, that's what we have, so be ready.