1. "Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you
have."
2. "Never go outside the expertise of your people. When an action or
tactic is outside the experience of the people, the result is
confusion, fear and retreat.... [and] the collapse of communication.
3. "Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy. Look for
ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. (This happens all
the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by
seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then forced to address.)
4. "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules. You can kill them
with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian
church can live up to Christianity."
5.
"Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to
counteract ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, which then
reacts to your advantage."
6.
"A good tactic is one your people enjoy."
7. "A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag. Man can sustain
militant interest in any issue for only a limited time...."
8. "Keep the pressure on, with different tactics and actions, and
utilize all events of the period for your purpose."
9. "The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself."
10. "The major premise for tactics is the development of operations
that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. It is this
unceasing pressure that results in the reactions from the opposition
that are essential for the success of the campaign."
11. "If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through
into its counterside... every positive has its negative."
12. "The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative."
13. Pick the target,
freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. In
conflict tactics there are certain rules that [should be regarded] as
universalities. One is that the opposition must be singled out as the
target and 'frozen.'...
"...any target can always say, 'Why do you
center on me when there
are others to blame as well?' When your 'freeze the target,' you
disregard these [rational but distracting] arguments.... Then, as you
zero in and freeze your target and carry out your attack, all the
'others' come out of the woodwork very soon. They become visible by
their support of the target...'
"One acts decisively only in the conviction
that all the angels
are on one side and all the devils on the other." (pps.127-134)
John
