Taking Whole*

Taking a company whole is superior
Destroying it is inferior to this.
Sun Tzu

He did it again. He likes to be the center of attention. He is the night dancer dressed in dried banana leaves with body powered in white ashes. Each time the world has to react to him. In less than three months: those mad Jaluos, Acoli MPs are in cahoots with a nascent armed rebel group, and now this. He pushes the envelop of some wacko notions only his head can conjure, and people react, to which he does the familiar foxtrot dance. It doesn’t matter what the idea—only that it benefits his cause—which is his personal interests.

In the wisdom of ancient China, this is not the Way of a sage general. It is not “taking whole.” Taking Whole is premised on the inevitability of conflict as the human condition and the interdependent of the universe. It is achieving victory with minimum bad blood. It portends a transcendent view, practice and action. It is synchronization of the heavens, earth and sentient beings for harmony that leads to progress and prosperity.

In Iraq there was no real victory because there was no Taking Whole. The wholesale dismissal of the Baath establishment ensured the continual quagmire and loss of lives. When the whole wasn’t taken in the settlements in Versailles, it spawned the white man’s second world war. Millions perished. It was also the root cause of the Iraq problem as the winners divided the lands of lesser beings among themselves. On the other hand, the rebuilding of the Axis countries was taking whole that gave unprecedented period of overall peace and human progress.

Taking whole is about enlightened leadership. The president is the Mind of the nation. If he is crafty, the people will be devious. He should be farsighted and appreciate the interconnectedness in the affairs of the nation. The latest contemptuous attempt at having only the indigenous natives of Bunyoro contesting for national elective offices in their respective locales is yet one among a series of snafus and unskillful acts. Another person would have handled the British Banyoro compensation moneys , if any, with finesse to the satisfaction of all concerned. But not our man—Mr. Museveni will screw this thing up. He will open up several fronts of weeping, anger and resentment with unpredictable consequences.

*The Rules of Victory (Gimian & Boyce, 2008)