The 48 Laws Of Power

hurriedbackwithhis600-man

bodyguard,

Selassiehad.armedhisown

troops

withbasketsof

gold

andcash.

They

hadsurroundedBalcha’s

army

and

proceeded

to

purchaseevery

lastoneoftheir

weapons.

Thosewhore»

fusedwere

easily

intimidated.

Withina

few

hours,

Balcha’sentireforcehad

beendisarmedandscatteredinalldirections.

Realizing

his

danger,

Balchadecidedtomarchsouthwithhis 600 sol-

diersto

regroup,

butthesame

army

thathaddisarmedhissoldiersblocked

his

way.

Theother

way

outwastomarch

on

the

capital,

but

Selassie

hadset

a

largearmy

todefendit.Likeachess

player,

he

had

predicted

Balcha’s

moves,

andhadcheckmateclhim.Forthefirsttimeinhis

life,

Balchasur-

rendered.To

repent

hissinsof

pride

and

ambition,

he

agreed

toentera

monastery.

‘

Interpretation

Throughout

Selassie’s

longreign,

no one could

quitefigure

him out.

Ethiopians

liketheirleaders

fierce,

but

Selassie,

whoworethefrontofa

gentle,peaceloving

man,

lasted

longer

than

any

ofthem.Never

angry

or

impatient,

heluredhisvictimswithsweet

smiles,

lulling

themwithcharm

and

obsequiousness

before

he

attacked.In thecaseof

Balcha,

Selassie

played

on

the

man’s

wariness,

his

suspicion

thatthe

banquet

wasa

trap—

whichinfactit

was,

butnottheonehe

expected.

Selassie’s

way

of

allaying

Balcha’s

fears—letting

him

bring

his

bodyguard

tothe

banquet,giving

him

topbilling

there,

making

himfeelincontro1—-createdathicksmoke

screen,

concealing

thereal

actionthree

miles

away.

Remember:The

paranoid

and

wary

areoftentheeasiesttodeceive.

Wintheirtrustinoneareaand

you

haveasmokescreenthatblindstheir

Viewin

another,

lettingyoucreepup

andlevelthemwitha

devastating

blow.

A

helpful

or

apparently

honest

gesture,

orone

that

implies

the

other

persorfssupen‘ority——these

are

perfectdiversionary

devices.

Properly

set

up,

thesmokescreenisa

weapon

of

greatpower.

It

en-

abledthe

gentle

Selassieto

totallydestroy

his

enemy,

without

firing

a

single

bullet.

Donotunderestimatethe

powerofTafari.

He

creefis

likeamousebuthehas

jaws

likealion.

fimlrim

n/‘Sidmn.o’.s

lastruarzls’

be/imaerztmzivcg

the

z:rnn.a.stary

KEYSTOPOWER

If

you

believe

that

deceiversarecolorfulfolk

who

misleadwithelaborate

liesandtall

tales,

you

are

greatly

mistaken.Thebestdeceiversutilizea

blandand

inconspicuous

frontthatcallsnoattentiontothemselves.

They

knowthat

extravagant

wordsand

gesturesimmediately

raise

suspicion.

In-

stead,

theyenvelop

their

marlcinthe

familiar,

the

banal,

the

ha.rmless.In

YellowKidWeil’s

dealings

withSam

Geezil,

thefamiliarwasabusiness

deal.Inthe

Ethiopian

case,

itwasSelassie’s

misleading

obsequiousness—

exactly

what'Balcha.wouldhave

expected

fromaweakerwarlord.

LAW

3 27