Opportunity (Sun Tzu 2:3) (Ezekiel Chapter 25-26)

Don't forget that it’s when things are low,
That they’ll attack – those ones besides your foe;
Your neighbor states, their chieftains, feudal lords –
Such rulers sense your weakness – move towards –

Distress, exhaustion, complicated state,
Debility – and quick advantage take;
Your situation of extremity –
A lure to all who prey upon the weak.

Your force is blunt; your country mired in war;
Your weapons dulled by what has gone before;
Your edge is gone; your ardor dampened down;
Spirit depressed – and seen by all around.

Exhausted strength; tired, angry folks at home;
Their will to fight expended – will to roam
Away from lands where they lived peaceful lives,
Depleted now like treasure, goods, supplies.

Resources gone these neighbors rise and act;
Spring up, invade, and seize upon this fact –
Resource consumed, economy collapsed,
Says easy prey, so they might win at last.

If this transpires, ingenious advice
Won’t help you then; wise generals suffice
To help you out; or clever leader’s ways;
Wise counselors, regardless of how sage –

They cannot make things turn around again;
Dire consequences will ensue with pain;
To rectify the aftermath – vain hope;
All quite confused with how to act or cope.

Not just results of quality will pass –
Capacity to plan the future’s cast
Evaporate, no way to fix life now;
Resources gone, no movement’s then allowed.

In war, campaigns, and operations such,
Where force is used, great speed with awkwardness;
Or clumsy speed performed with stupid haste;
Quite often wins, though blundering their ways.

Fight on with speed, push quickly to resolve,
For never once, with tardiness involved
Has cleverness, or skillful use of might
Seen victory – protraction wrecks the fight.

Don’t drag things out to strut your army’s might;
In use of force in war be quick to strike;
Prolonged delays continued over time,
To nation-state no benefit will find.

With longer wars more damage will be done;
And if you win small good if it will come;
With quick campaigns or operations swift,
Duration short sees victory in rifts.

With Edom, Amon, Tyre and all the rest,
We see in Scripture, sample of this best;
For when Jerusalem was crushed, they cheered,
And profited for better times had neared.

The problem is that the zero’s not the base,
But rather, higher level’s better place
To set the point when “All is said and done” –
Then you’ve reserves when new advantage comes.

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