HVK Archives: There's danger in the Dunkirk analogy
There's danger in the Dunkirk analogy - Economic Times
Dilip Raote
()
31 May 1996
Title : There's danger in the Dunkirk analogy
Author : Dilip Raote
Publication : Economic Times
Date : May 31, 1996
DUNKIRK is synonymous with incompetence. The British forces in
Europe and their French allies failed to anticipate German moves.
When the German armies broke through French defences of the
Maginot Line at the start of World War II, the British were
caught in a pincer and retreated towards Dunkirk.
The German armies could have moved in and finished them off. But
Hitler had second thoughts, and Hitier's thoughts were never
questioned. He held back his army and let the British soldiers be
evacuated by anything that could float in the English Channel.
The British, being terribly good at semantic jugglery, converted
this near-disaster into victory as Britain's finest hour. This
went into history textbooks. Managers can write great self-
congratulatory reports even about their failures.
Mr L K Advani has invoked Dunkirk to explain the BJP's evacuation
from South Block in Delhi. "The manner in which Vajpayee went
out of power provides a striking parallel to the Dunkirk episode
which is described by historians as Britain's finest hour," Mr
Advani was quoted as saying. Mr Advani is skilled in rousing
rhetoric.
At the start of the war Hitler knew exactly what he wanted and
his war machine had a detailed plan of action. On the other
hand, British and French political leaders as well as their
general staff were woolly in their planning which was based more
on hope and arrogance than on a military understanding of the
situation.
If Mr Narasimha Rao has a Hitler-like decisive mind, it must be
noted in some 'Top Secret' file that Mr Ram Jethmalani did not
have access to. If the Congress generals, colonels and infantry
had a detailed plan to trap the BJP in a pincer move, that too is
a deep mystery.
If the various Mussolinis in the Third Front had any plans at
all, it is unlikely that future historians will uncover them.
And their armies are about as disciplined and motivated as
Mussolini's were.
Dunkirk, indeed! Dunkirk marked the culmination of all-round
incompetence. Dunkirk evacuation was not a victory, nor a
tactical retreat. It was the rout of a force sent to strengthen
the French allies. It took some years before the reversal of
British and French fortunes could occur. For that reversal and
subsequent culmination in victory over Hitler's forces, two
factors were necessary - the Americans had to get behind the
British and the French, and Hitter had to lose his head and
invade the Soviet Union.
The BJP would be making a serious mistake were it to cling to
the Dunkirk analogy, and din into the cadres that retreat from
the brief and splendid isolation of South Block was a historical
victory. It should, instead, study, events after Dunkirk.
Churchill worked hard to get the Americans and the Soviets on his
side. He cooed to the French to keep up their morale. He
instigated others so that more fronts were opened up to disperse
German forces and dissipate energies.
Mr Advani needs to emulate war-time Churchill. He must work hard
to get powerful allies abroad and at home, especially domestic
Mussolinis. He must coo. He must instigate and compel opponents
to dissipate their energies. He must make the opponents lose
their heads.
One major disadvantage of the BJP is its inflexibility and
standardisation of thought. The party line is always right and
dissent is wrong. Dissent can lead to assault and disrobing, or
worse. "In armed conflict," writes Edward N Luttwak in 'Strategy
- The Logic of War and Peace', "standardisation must result in
vulnerability for any weapon or device that interacts with the
enemy, from aircraft to missile sub-marines, from warning radars
to field radios." From Mr Advani to the grassroots worker, one
might add.
The BJP leadership would do well to read Luttwak. He writes of
the conscious use of paradox, of culmination points and
reversals. "In strategy's dynamic paradox, a defence as much as
an offensive can be too successful," Luttwak says. The BJP's
election rhetoric offensive was too successful and it led to a
reversal in Parliament.
If the BJP has to return to power on its own terms, it must do a
lot of strategic thinking and understand culmination points and
reversals. So far the leadership has shown that it doesn't.
Having won the most seats in the election, the party behaved as
if it had won the war, as if the opponents were so utterly routed
that they would be unable to launch a counter-offensive.
The trouble with the BJP leadership is that it is so self-
satisfied with itself, it cannot credit opponents with thought.
"A conscious understanding of the phenomena of strategy," says
Luttwak, "is a great rarity in any case, and especially in the
rogues' gallery of the highest political leaders." Alas!
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