Meditations on the Way of the Warrior

A reader asks: "Sean, what is the Warrior Ethos?"

I chuckle as I recall a scene from Conan the Barbarian - during Conan's gladiator phase - where the Cimmerian is asked: "Conan, what are the greatest things in Life?"

His reply: "To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the cries and lamentations of their women!"

Few moviegoers realize that this is an actual quote of one of the greatest warriors of all time; Genghis Khan.

There have already been some posts on STORMBRINGER regarding the Way of the Warrior:

On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs - (Part 1)

and

On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs (Continued)

I wore the War Suit for twenty-five years, and I continue to serve as a security professional. Perhaps it is time to further explore this theme . . .

DUTY - HONOR - COUNTRY

The Warrior walks the Way of Power, and with this power comes great responsibility. To the Warrior class, this responsibility is known as "Duty".

For the Warrior, every act of every waking moment is guided by Honor. Honor first . . . Honor last . . . Honor . . . always.

Luftwaffe fighter pilot Franz Stigler epitomized Honor in his encounter with B-17 pilot Charlie Brown during World War II

The Warrior serves. In ancient times, this service was to the tribe, the band of hunter-gatherers. Later, this service was to the King, or the feudal overlord; the Baron. In the modern era, this service is ultimately to the nation-state.

The Warrior is Loyal. Warriors perform their duty honorably at every level of our modern society; at community level as police, firefighters or other first-level responders; within the various state & national-level law enforcement and para-military organizations, the branches of the military - or as a private professionals, business leaders and the captains of industry - ultimately, duty to the nation trumps all. The Warrior must never betray his Country.

Considered amongst the greatest, most insightful American military leaders, both Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee took up arms against the United States. It must be remembered, however, that in their time a man's state was considered his country, and although Stonewall and Lee were not adherents of the Confederate cause, neither could bear going against their native Virginia.


The Warrior keeps his passions in check, never acts upon the impulse of his passions, except in the moment of actively engagement against the Threat. The Warrior channels the energy of his passion into selfless acts of service, into the driving force of physical endurance, and into outward displays of loyalty and respect to the Nation and its symbols, to the Honorable Dead, and to those who served before.

Green Berets of 10th Special Forces Group honoring World War II veterans of the Canada-America 1st Special Services Brigade

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The Warrior speaks Truthfully: to his leadership, to the Citizenry, and even to the Enemy, when representing the national leadership. The Warrior is not constrained to the Truth, however, when engaging in deliberate acts of ruse or deception, or psychological operations.

Although shrewd in his business dealings, the Warrior is an Honest Broker and a Fair Trader. The Warrior Class as a whole suffers when a single Warrior conducts himself dishonorably in barter with the Citizenry. This sentiment notwithstanding, the world is full of snakes, and the Warrior practices the ethic of "Trust, but Verify."

The days of Sack & Pillage are over; there are rules of war, codified in the Law of Land Warfare. Given the incredible lethality of modern war machines, and the professionalism of the Warrior Class, we conduct ourselves within this modern Code in order to minimize unnecessary suffering.

We treat Enemy prisoners within the Law of Land Warfare out of human decency, and to ensure humanitarian treatment of our own being held by the Enemy . . .








. . . whether or not the Enemy reciprocates:

American Prisoners of War in Japan, 1945

SS Reichsführer Himmler inspecting prisoners on the Eastern Front, 1943


The Warrior kills only when necessary, in the execution of legitimate duties. To kill indiscriminately, or outside the scope of duty, is unsanctioned murder.

To stray beyond these parameters one departs the Warrior Class and becomes of the criminal classes.









In a clandestine photograph smuggled out via underground operatives during World War II, an Australian pilot is summarily executed by an officer of the Imperial Japanese Army.

The German Wehrmacht conducts a mass execution of partisans, somewhere in Europe 1940-1944


PLANNING

Planning is a continual process; the Warrior always has a Plan, and the Warrior is always planning. Knowing that no plan remains intact once executed, the Warrior has an alternate plan - a Plan B - and an emergency plan - a "Go-to-Hell Plan."

"Be professional, be polite, and have a plan to kill everyone you meet." - Marine General James Mattis in Iraq.


The Principles of Patrolling are a good set of rules to guide you in your planning in all endeavors, civilian or military. They are found painted on Infantry barracks walls and posted on bulletin boards throughout the United States Army:


PLANNING

RECONNAISSANCE

SURVEILLANCE

CONTROL

COMMON SENSE


We will explore these concepts in detail, at a later time.


BE PREPARED

Knowing that the world is an evil place full of people who only wish to do him harm, the Warrior is never unarmed. A member of the Citizenry looks out the window and says, "Oh, it is raining; I must bring an umbrella." Whereas the Warrior looks out the window and thinks, "I don't know what's out there, I must carry something: an umbrella, a walking stick, a rolled-up newspaper - anything - so that my hands are not empty, should I encounter a Threat."

When circumstances preclude carrying a firearm, I carry one of these. If the distance is closed with speed and aggression, a collapsible baton will disarm and subdue an armed opponent.



VERSATILITY

The Warrior is not constrained by convention. There is a friction to Conflict; the Warrior adapts to fit the space and shape of the battlefield environment.

Years ago - another lifetime ago it seems - when I was a young Green Beret in Asia, my mentor explained: "The weapons of the modern-day ninja are the computer and the submachinegun."

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Like most of my peers, I knew nothing of computers, and an instinctive fear of the unknown gripped me. In the course of my self-education, however, I encountered Sun Tzu, the great Philosopher of War.

The Art of War is one of the oldest and most successful books on military strategy in the world. First translated into French language by Jesuits in 1772, it very likely influenced Napoleon. Leaders as diverse as Mao Zedong, General Vo Nguyen Giap, and General Douglas MacArthur claimed inspiration from the work.

Sun Tzu writes, "There is no difference between two armies tens of thousands strong meeting across a great battlefield, or two swordsmen facing each other in a duel."

I understood this to mean that a computer by itself is not evil or sinister, no more so than any tool or machine; it is simply a device that can be used to project power, as much as a submachinegun but perhaps more indirectly. Having arrived in the era of cyber-crime and cyber-sabotage, it is easier to understand this concept. The greater point is that the environment and the weaponry itself may change, but the Principles of War are always the same.


RESPECT THE ENEMY

The greatest folly in Conflict is for the Warrior to underestimate his opponent; and Conflict pervades every aspect of our lives. Sun Tzu also wrote: "Know your enemies and know yourself and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles. Know yourself but not your enemy, find level of loss and victory. But if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle."

In our business negotiations we apply this in seeking to know the other guy's hidden agenda. If you know your opponent's bottom line, you can quickly outflank him in negotiations or office politics.

To respect the Enemy means never to underestimate him. In modern warfare, this translates: "There aren't too many Million Dollar Men, but there are plenty of 25 cent bullets."

That little guy out there, squatting in the bush and living off rice and beans; he hates you and everything you stand for. Given half a chance, he can . . . and will . . . very realistically . . . KILL you.

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Take what I have written here and contemplate it. You will be tested - of this I can assure you.


STORMBRINGER SENDS

© 2011 Sean Linnane

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ON WRITING

Strangely enough, this image from the Internet is very similar to my own writer's den, only the typewriter is a modern laptop of course, and of course the firearm by my side is an M1911 - S.L.


"All writers are vain, selfish and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives lies a mystery. Writing a book is a long, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand."

- George Orwell, "Why I Write"

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THE COMING STORM

Israel's Palace Coup Plotters

By CAROLINE B. GLICK
07/05/2011 01:52

Israel today faces the most daunting and complex threat spectrum it has ever seen.

Flames rise from a gas pipeline attack in the northern Sinai


On Monday, saboteurs bombed the Egyptian gas pipeline to Israel for the third time since former president Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February. The move was just another reminder that Israel today faces the most daunting and complex threat spectrum it has ever seen.

From Egypt to Turkey to Iran to the international Left to the Obama administration, Israel faces a mix of military and political challenges that threaten its very existence on multiple levels. To meet these challenges, it is vital for the government and people of Israel to stand strong, unified and determined. The approaching storm will test our resilience as we have never been tested before.

Unfortunately, even if the government is competent, and even if the nation stands strong, there is reason to fear that Israel will fail to successfully withstand the dangers gathering against it. Unelected, unrepresentative and irresponsible senior government officials are liable to take actions that undermine the government’s ability to protect the country and weaken the public’s morale and unity of purpose.

Over the past week, we received two reminders of how dire the situation is. The first reminder relates to institutional impediments to the government’s freedom of action in preventing Iran from fielding a nuclear arsenal.

Since the beginning of his first term as prime minister 15 years ago, Binyamin Netanyahu has consistently warned that the greatest dangers Israel faces stem from the forces of global jihad generally and the Iranian regime and its nuclear program specifically. After taking office for the second time in 2009, Netanyahu made blocking Iran’s rise to nuclear power his top priority. He ordered the heads of the Mossad and the IDF to prepare plans to attack Iran’s nuclear installations.

Last Friday, Haaretz reported that former Mossad chief Meir Dagan and former IDF chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi refused to obey his order. Rather than prepare strike plans, Dagan and Ashkenazi warned that such a strike would foment a regional war. That is, rather than do their jobs, they made excuses for failing to fulfill their duty to obey Israel’s elected leadership.

Not wanting to take them on directly, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak decided to wait them out. Dagan and Ashkenazi were both set to finish their terms at the beginning of the year, and Netanyahu and Barak figured they could replace them with commanders who would abide by the government’s wishes. Specifically, Barak and Netanyahu believed that by replacing Ashkenazi with his deputy Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant, they would have a military leader willing and able to take on the central challenge of preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power.

Barak announced last August that Galant would replace Ashkenazi as IDF chief in January. Galant’s appointment was approved by the government and by the Senior Appointments Commission. But in late January, the government was forced to cancel it. And this week we received new indications that Galant’s appointment fell victim to what has been likened to a palace coup. That is, the government was denied its right to choose its military leader by a group of senior officials who deliberately usurped that power from the government.

Read how the coup was fomented, and by who, HERE




Today's Bird HERE



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WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED IN 2 MILLENIA?

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."

- Cicero, 55 BC

Evidently, nothing.



STORMBRINGER SENDS




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SECURITY ALERT: Phishing

This one just came over the email machine, with an attached zip file:

Then there's an attached zip file.


A few things got my Spidey-Sense tingling right away:


First of all, the fact that I haven't set foot in New York State in over fifteen years.

Second, the address bars:


From: "Police agency"

To: ( a whole bunch of @yahoo.com's starting with the same letter )


Third, "POLICE AGENCY" and no Local Police Code, no person described.


MAYBE they're sending out tickets via email these days - I don't know how'd they get my alternative backside "safe" email address . . . either way I ain't touching this thing with a ten-foot barge pole.


Stay alert, people.

STORMBRINGER SENDS


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OSAMA's SEA BURIAL CAUGHT ON TAPE

Everyone knows that 'burial at sea' story was fishy. Here is the real truth:






Today's Bird HERE


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CRY HAVOC!

. . . and let slip the Dogs of War! 

- William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

STORMBRINGER is about to fully enter the Culture War: the Left has become so inherently dangerous to the lives of ordinary Americans, and as such I can no longer simply regard the mob from my virtual ivory tower. I display the Snake flag on my blog and the Tea Party has become SO overwhelmingly huge - who'd ever imagine we'd be so POPULAR??? - its time for me to fish or cut bait.

In keeping with the military inspiration, I will dub this latest maneuver Operation OVERLORD because, like Eisenhower's mission in Europe, this is a Crusade in North America. This is especially apropos because America's most hated enemies call our soldiers (and those of our Allies) 'Crusaders'.

Starting today - along with the usual Conservative themes I will bring light upon leftist outrages, disinformation and political skullduggery from the Other Side - remember I was among the first to alert on Operation GunWalker
(which Obama's Justice Department under Eric Holder is stonewalling BTW).

Over the past three-odd years we have seen the Obama Administration pile up greater debt than the previous 43 administrations combined - 14 TRILLION! Our grandchildren will be paying for their share-the-wealth pipedreams, state-enforced redistribution of wealth and thinly-disguised political finance ponzi schemes. We have seen the tearing down of American power and pride around the world; witness an American President bowing and scraping to Oriental kings and potentates:

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This same President apologizing for American 'excesses' to crowds of foreigners - in BERLIN of all places to the GERMANS of all people (Hell-O-O-O - any of you clowns in the Left Leaning Lamestream Media ever hear of that Final Solution operation those people had going back in the groovy Third Reich days?). And remember Berlin is the same city we defended against tyranny for fifty years - more on that theme to come. Our manned space program is cancelled for the first time since 1961, and we're so lacking in national leadership we can't even knock over a tinhorn dictator even if we wanted to - has anyone noticed the air war against Gadaffi has gone on now for almost a month longer than the Kosovo air war?


Let us always remember that it's darkest before the dawn. Our enemy may seem unbeatable, of limitless resources, our task monolithic and daunting; still we must continue the good fight and never falter in our determination, for our cause is immaculate, and the alternative: Socialism, and the end of the last great shining hope of the world - America - this is simply unthinkable.


ROUNDUP:
(From Theo Sparks Last of the Few

Lies, Damned Lies and Jewish Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . by Dan Friedman

Yesterday I sent around a Gallup poll which showed Obama maintaining most of the overwhelming Jewish support he received in the ‘08 election. Political strategist Dick Morris did his own polling and comes to a different conclusion:

Obama is in the process of breaking the close relationship between his party and the Jewish community, a liaison first formed by Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s. In increasing numbers, American Jews and Jewish Democrats are leaving the president's side.

Have a look at Morris’s numbers here. - Dan Friedman NYC


Pajamas Media: The Future of Obama's Stealth Gun Control



Homosexuality is no longer a kink or a sexual deviancy it is a fully acceptable lifestyle choice. How droll. So where does this take us? Is bestiality next? Stop enforcing the ban, U.S. told



And lastly, this - the lamestream media is so emboldened they don't even try to hide their agenda anymore:

Pumping Up Communists at the Los Angeles Times Business Section

Many thanks to all of you for your continued support. Oh, and one last thing: the Birds remain - they are my little way of remaining politically incorrect, a cheerful reminder of a time when images of sexy women graced wall lockers, barracks walls, the back cover of Soldier magazine, and the noses of our combat aircraft.


STORMBRINGER SENDS




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