tigran1801

Sun Tzu said: Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.

Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed on him.

By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord; or, by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near.

If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him; if well supplied with food, he can starve him out; if quietly encamped, he can force him to move.

Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected.

An army may march great distances without distress, if it marches through country where the enemy is not.

You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended. You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked.

Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.

O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible; and hence we can hold the enemy’s fate in our hands.

You may advance and be absolutely irresistible, if you make for the enemy’s weak points; you may retire and be safe from pursuit if your movements are more rapid than those of the enemy.

If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve.

If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.

By discovering the enemy’s dispositions and remaining invisible ourselves, we can keep our forces concentrated, while the enemy’s must be divided.

We can form a single united body, while the enemy must split up into fractions. Hence there will be a whole pitted against separate parts of a whole, which means that we shall be many to the enemy’s few.

And if we are able thus to attack an inferior force with a superior one, our opponents will be in dire straits.

The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points; and his forces being thus distributed in many directions, the numbers we shall have to face at any given point will be proportionately few.

For should the enemy strengthen his van, he will weaken his rear; should he strengthen his rear, he will weaken his van; should he strengthen his left, he will weaken his right; should he strengthen his right, he will weaken his left. If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will everywhere be weak.

Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.

Knowing the place and the time of the coming battle, we may concentrate from the greatest distances in order to fight.

But if neither time nor place be known, then the left wing will be impotent to succor the right, the right equally impotent to succor the left, the van unable to relieve the rear, or the rear to support the van. How much more so if the furthest portions of the army are anything under a hundred LI apart, and even the nearest are separated by several LI!

Though according to my estimate the soldiers of Yueh exceed our own in number, that shall advantage them nothing in the matter of victory. I say then that victory can be achieved.

Though the enemy be stronger in numbers, we may prevent him from fighting. Scheme so as to discover his plans and the likelihood of their success.

Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots.

Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.

In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them; conceal your dispositions, and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest spies, from the machinations of the wisest brains.

How victory may be produced for them out of the enemy’s own tactics — that is what the multitude cannot comprehend.

All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.

Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.

Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards.

So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.

Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.

Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.

He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.

The five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, earth) are not always equally predominant; the four seasons make way for each other in turn. There are short days and long; the moon has its periods of waning and waxing.

Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy’s country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.

Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.

Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy’s plans; the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces; the next in order is to attack the enemy’s army in the field; and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.

The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided. The preparation of mantlets, movable shelters, and various implements of war, will take up three whole months; and the piling up of mounds over against the walls will take three months more.

The general, unable to control his irritation, will launch his men to the assault like swarming ants, with the result that one-third of his men are slain, while the town still remains untaken. Such are the disastrous effects of a siege.

Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy’s troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.

With his forces intact he will dispute the mastery of the Empire, and thus, without losing a man, his triumph will be complete. This is the method of attacking by stratagem.

It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy’s one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack him; if twice as numerous, to divide our army into two.

If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him.

Hence, though an obstinate fight may be made by a small force, in the end it must be captured by the larger force.

Now the general is the bulwark of the State; if the bulwark is complete at all points; the State will be strong; if the bulwark is defective, the State will be weak.

There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army: — (1) By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army. (2) By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier’s minds. (3) By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances. This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.

But when the army is restless and distrustful, trouble is sure to come from the other feudal princes. This is simply bringing anarchy into the army, and flinging victory away.

Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory: (1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. (2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. (3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. (4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. (5) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.

Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

Sun Tzu said: The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.

To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.

Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy.

Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.

Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.

Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength.

The general who is skilled in defense hides in the most secret recesses of the earth; he who is skilled in attack flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven. Thus on the one hand we have ability to protect ourselves; on the other, a victory that is complete.

To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.

Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight and conquer and the whole Empire says, “Well done!”

To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength; to see the sun and moon is no sign of sharp sight; to hear the noise of thunder is no sign of a quick ear.

What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.

Hence his victories bring him neither reputation for wisdom nor credit for courage.

He wins his battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.

Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.

Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.

The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success.

In respect of military method, we have, firstly, Measurement; secondly, Estimation of quantity; thirdly, Calculation; fourthly, Balancing of chances; fifthly, Victory.

Measurement owes its existence to Earth; Estimation of quantity to Measurement; Calculation to Estimation of quantity; Balancing of chances to Calculation; and Victory to Balancing of chances.

A victorious army opposed to a routed one, is as a pound’s weight placed in the scale against a single grain.

The onrush of a conquering force is like the bursting of pent-up waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep.

Summer days, I can’t stand the summer days
Frozen cocktails and night fireworks
What’s so great about them anyway?
Summer day, let it be some other day
Seaside motels and sex on the beach
Don’t be thinking I went all the way

I hate summer days!

Rushing down the traffic, to the beach,
That’s jammed for blocks and blocks
They ain’t getting nowhere,
Still miles and miles left to go
Strutting down the street, the girls,
they try to impress their boyfriend to be
I give up and don’t try
Every day is a bad hair day
Guys, they come up with lame pick-up lines,
Desperate to just get laid
Damn, give me a freaking break!

Goddamn summer days!

Kate was the one, who said that life was made to be enjoyed
Stop crinkling your face
Everything will turn out okay
Serving table to table up and down the isle
Had on a face I’d never seen
Whatever happened to her?
Who has stolen your smiles away?
Who said that summer can brighten the mood of fate?
Nothing is going to change
Damn, give me a freaking break!

Who needs summer days!

Summer days, they have never been the same
Once you left and were out of my sight
Leaving no trace behind
Summer day, why oh why on a summer day?
You were gone without saying goodbye
Taking it all away
No more summer days!

Looking up at the rainbow that I saw as a child now
There are no seven colors, and before I know it, the fog starts
Time passes and things continue to change
Even if I search for you, I won’t find you
I close my eyes and open my heart, so if I look up at it again
Will anything have changed? I need to know
If I became accustomed to being honest
Maybe the fog would clear; I cry a prayer in my heart
If you lose something, that’s right, surely you gain something as well, don’t you?
Even if we’re still confused by adults
We’ll keep searching for a way to live
When the rain stops you suddenly cross the bridge
And pointing up at the sky, you laughed innocently
As if it had vanished,
The rainbow became transparent and as we looked at it we were unable to say anything
The truth is, back then
I was completely entranced by your profile
So I can’t forget it
I can’t become an honest person
So I just cry your name inside my heart
Why am I not able to gain anything
Until I lose you?
My hair got wet as my tears
Fell from saying “goodbye”
Even now, after the rain
I look up at the narrow sky
From the bridge and though I search for you
I can’t make it to where you are In this a monochrome world
I can finally ask you
The words I couldn’t say and the feelings I kept locked away for so long
Running away was the cause of my weakness
That right, it’s not the way for you, it’s my way
If I became accustomed to being honest
Maybe the fog would clear; I cry a prayer in my heart
Even if I don’t quite have enough of a certain color
I want to repaint my world
And if we can meet again someday
Because I’ll express my feelings honestly
I’ll draw an honest rainbow

Reach for it, reach for it, far away
Now I trust these revived tears to you
Until a tomorrow we can’t see
Visits from the other side of this door
It begins…
A long, long story about you
Being lost, realization, Shouting out, My everyday struggles
Light ahead part of this road again
“Tears”
I want to shed them in happy times
So what if I want them to float in pretty puddles?
The southern sky twinkles
From all of the stars meeting
Learning about love, receiving a map
they are all connected
That girl said goodbye and waved
Without ever looking back again
And vanished into a crowd of people
The lens of my heart became fogged
I gave a sigh
Even the twinkling of that regrettable scene was lost
That’s right, you can’t do anything on your own
But don’t lose heart
Look, your engine is burning quietly
Tonight, wait and keep waiting
Even if you’re not the best at it, continue grasping
You can’t go wrong with that
From here it begins
The one and only story about you

Just like always
As I turn that corner
I am lost in the waves of people
Melting, disappearing
I lose my way
I even completely lose my words
But just one thing remains
Your voice…
Your smiling faces, your angry faces, everything
Keeps me walking on
The point where the clouds break
I’m sure you can see it
You know what I mean?
Even though I live ambiguously
My heart is immature,
but because of it, look,
over there is the person important to me
If you get lost
I will be your guide
If you believe in me
I’m positive I know the way
So don’t be afraid
The light collects and shoots across the sky
Like it understands you
And then, the road you walk
Shines even more
Forever…
Going from your hair to your voice to your mouth, to your fingertips
Ima dake demo ii…

In off a mission
LBE on the floor
Weapon in the corner
Needing to be cleaned

It’s been so long
Since her last perfumed letter
Read 200 times
Ink starting to fade

I killed 3 men today
How can I ever return home
To my wife that I love so dearly
Can she ever understand

Upon my bunk
Todays mail lays waiting
Familiar scent of Obsession
Drifting into the air

I open the letter so slowly
I close my eyes to see you
Sweet lips seduce me
In my minds eye

“My dearest,” your letter begins
“I dont know how to tell you”
My heart skips a beat
“I am so sorry to tell you this way”

“I met another
Who is now here with me
And not in some far off land
Know I still love you”

“Please sign the papers
Included here within
I know you love me
So now set me free”

My sins have come back to me
For the lives I have taken
Now no need for her to forgive me
Because now here I will stay

I have taken others loved ones
Fathers, husbands, and sons
Now justice has been served to me
My love is now gone

I sign the lawyers papers
Into the envelope I slip them inside
I pick back up my weapon
And the next mission I will go fly

As I sit here, waiting in this tent,
I see soldiers of all branches:
Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines.
Soldiers going on R & R.
Soldiers going to fight.
Soldiers carrying bags-getting on a plane,
Soldiers checking combat load, heading to fight.
I believe it’s safe to say
No matter where we’re stationed,
No matter what we did in this country,
We’ve all seen some combat, some blood spilled.
Combat MOS’s and Non combat,
We’ve all seen our share of lives lost.
Friendly, enemy and innocents,
we’ve seen loose their lives over a winning
cause-FREEDOM.
Though some people will not come back,
their cause is known and their battle over.
We must not ever forget the people we lost in this war.
Our friend, our buddies.
This is what we call them, BUT
to everyone else, they call them SOLDIER.

I do not enjoy existing this way,
Hiding in shadows from the light of day.
Unseen by those I see yet felt by those I touch,
I live in a world where war governs much.

With my weapon in hand and many faces in my head,
I look them in the eyes, those who’s blood I’ll shed.
For I feel no pain and I feel no hate,
Towards those who’s life I’m about to take.

I am the hand of God; I am the dealer of fate.
From a distance, in the trees and shadows I wait.
With a round in the chamber and the bolt locked tight,
I look them in the eyes through my telescopic sight.

They do not see me; they have nothing to say,
To the sniper in the bushes 500 yards away.
They live their life with no care in the world.
They know nothing of the sniper-rifle I hold.

I touch the trigger and I say goodbye,
The man in my sights is about to die.
He crumples like paper as the round hits his head,
I feel no pain, no regrets to be said.

I move on to the next, he falls just as fast,
I aim for my targets; I make every round last.
As the bodies pile up, in the shadows I disappear,
My job here is finished, my conscience remains clear.

As a sniper, with many faces burned in my mind, there’s no joy living this
way,
But for my brothers-in-arms, who’s lives I hold dear, it is a sacrifice I’ll
gladly pay.