Issue 151 Principles of peoples war August 27, 2013

I may not like Mao and what he did to his people in China to implement his version of communism, but he did have one thing right and that is the principles of people’s war. Here is how it works.

1. Public relations/propaganda: Here the organization or groups seeking control (terrorist, freedom fighter or both) needs aid by the masses. So they try to make themselves look good through certain actions and deeds. Hamas in the Middle East builds hospitals and schools for people. At the same time they launch propaganda stating that Israel is the root cause for all their problems that their people face. Obviously they won control based on how they now have control of both governments in Gaza and The West Bank. But simple acts like helping the sick or making your enemy look like a monster through information campaigns are effective. Even the U.S. military uses propaganda and public relations techniques to try to get populations to sympathies with them and ally themselves with the U.S. against common enemies even if that is their own government.

2. Guerrilla warfare: In step 2 small raids are carried out on specific targets. These raids are to show that the government is incapable of defending itself and thus put pressure on them. More importantly it is to show that the government cannot protect the people themselves and the peoples fear along with their reaction to it place enormous pressure on the government to do something, including surrendering at times. Basically, the enemy’s power and political will must be reduced as much as possible to make them look and feel helpless. The enemy is therefore forced to react to show their strength. However, as the violence escalates so does the enemy government’s reactions. From there more people side with the terrorists/freedom fighters as they become isolated or become victims themselves of government oppression.

3. All out war: This is the final push. To overthrow the government in "people’s war", it comes down to a swift and violent assault. If the regime is not overthrown then the terrorists/freedom fighters lost. But, that does not mean that the rebellion is over. If the all out war step fails to overthrow the regime, the terrorists/freedom fighters simply go back to steps 1 and 2. Basically, the process is repeated over and over until there is a decided victor. Meanwhile the government in control is either left in a better or worse position than when the conflict first began.

Conclusion: Understanding why and how people fight is essential to figuring out ways to stop violence all together. Thus, today's issue just shows the basic steps that revolutionaries and even terrorists follow to achieve an overthrow of the ruling government. People from George Washington to Mao (who explained/demonstrated the concept in its entirety) have used these steps to get the results they wanted. These steps are a tool so as to achieve a means to an end, but the moral values and the methods and reasons behind it are what determine if the person using the people’s war steps is good or evil.