THE famed and highly-respected 20th century military historian and strategist, Sir Basil Lidell Hart (1895-1970) who had studied the ‘art of war’ thoroughly concluded that the ‘Indirect Approach’ is always the best strategy when it comes to successfully resolving any military conflict or, in resolving any of life’s conflict.

In the ‘Preface’ to one of his masterpieces, ‘Strategy,’ he wrote: “When, in the course of studying a long series of military campaigns, I first came to perceive the superiority of the indirect over the direct approach, I was looking merely for light upon strategy.

“With deepened reflection, however, I began to realize that the indirect approach had a much wider application—that it was a law of life in all spheres: a truth of philosophy.”

Now, as an “observer” in the government’s ongoing effort to finally put an end to the 53 years of CPP terrorism, the government, to my mind, knowingly or unwittingly, has put in place two ‘indirect approaches’ to the problem that proved effective in combatting the CPP’s own ‘indirect strategy’ of organizing/mobilizing its above-ground (front) organizations now encompassing all sectors of society in support of its ‘armed struggle.’

The first of them would be the creation by Pres. Duterte of the ‘National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’ (NTF-ELCAC) that has proven itself effective in countering the propaganda, agitation and mobilization of the CPP of all its established front organizations, including all its allies in the media and political establishment under the task force’s separate, ‘whole of nation/whole of government’ strategy.

Indeed, under the able stewardship of national security adviser, Hermogenes Esperon, the task force has managed to break free from being the usual hostage of CPP cadres and its allies in Congress in getting funds needed in order to deliver down to the grassroots level the benefits of good governance and responsible government.

In other words, if the CPP has its own ‘shadow government’ and different layers of the bureaucracy thru the National Democratic Front (NDF), this has now been effectively countered by the NTF-ELCAC.

And given a choice, the people would always support a government they elected into office and not one whose authority comes from the barrel of a gun.

Besides, the services and benefits now reaching the country’s remotest villages thru the NTF’s ‘Barangay Development Program’ (BDP)—roads, schools, health care, etc.– are already right there before their eyes; the “promise” of the CPP of a “communist paradise” under the slogan, ‘to each according to his needs, from each according to his abilities’ remains a distant and unreachable dream that is already immersed in rivers of blood. Who would want that, anyway?

On the operational level, the second indirect approach now being actively pursued by the government in dealing with the CPP’s armed component, the NPA, is the increasing resort to ‘coordinated air and ground operation’ where the military’s air assets are now frequently being used in assaulting the jungle ‘fortresses’ and ‘camps’ of state enemies.

To yours truly, this is a game changer in the battlefield, going by the way the CPP-NPA showed their despair when the AFP made them taste its armed superiority during the military operation last August 16, 2021 in Dolores Eastern Samar and again in the hinterlands of Bukidnon last October 30, 2021.

BH Lidell Hart said that in conceptualizing any strategy, the purpose is not to simply crush the enemy by military force (the direct approach, which is both costly and risky) but more importantly, to crush their hope of any victory and the futility of their situation resulting to widespread demoralization among enemy troops leading to surrender or refusal to fight.

In this sense, the NTF-ELCAC and the military’s coordinated air and ground operations are two indirect approaches leading towards that direction.