What does it need to win a war? Is it bravery? Is it technology? Is it power? No. To win a war, competence is more than enough. With enough competence, or lack thereof, a single stroke of a pen can make an empire or army shatter in millions of pieces, and a new power to take its place. Not even a single round, needed to be fired.
General Isaac Matthew Oliveira-Ehrlich was the son of a Jewish couple. His father, Otto Matthew Ehrlich, was a German man born before WWI. During the Great War, he got into the US thanks to his double citizenship. He created an textile factory in Oregon, and was very successful. During the interwar period, he met Josefina Oliveira, a Brazilian woman. She was a radiant lady, with a beautiful laughter and an even more beautiful face. She too was Jewish. After they met, they quickly got married, and, after 3 years of peaceful and happy union, they had their first son: Isaac.
However, his delivery was met with misfortune. After 6 months of his birth, Josefina died in a car crash. And, in his birthday of one year, the Great Depression hit. The factory was closed, and the family lost their income. The future seemed bleak and dark.
That is, until Otto had the ideia to go back to the fatherland. The dollar had great value, and, even with no income, the Ehrlichs had their fair share of money. Mr. Ehrlich went to Germany with his son, and, through 5 years, they prospered. Until 1934. That year, Otto contracted tuberculosis, and slowly dwindled, without being able to work. In 1935, disaster knocked on the door. The Nuremberg Laws were put in action, and it turned impossible to get treatment to Mr. Ehrlich. After 2 years of battle, Otto Matthew Ehrlich died, leaving his son orphan and alone.
The boy started living with his aunt. Both his grandparents were deceased. As the years passed, the boy grew well, with an astonishing brain, and great appearance. He had only one problem: he was a broken man, with complete disregard for human life and his own humanity. The perfect cold-blooded human. In spite of, he was sent to Dachau in 1942, at age 14. There, he endured the backbreaking labor and humiliation thanks to only one thought: revenge is a dish best served cold. after 3 years, he was freed. He saw as the Allied troops invaded the camp and thought 'I know what I will do'. Somehow, proved that he was an American citizen. He was an ingenious young man, with good looks, a brilliant and strategic mind, and a chillingly cold blood. Of course, he went to the Army.
passing as first in the admission exam, he was student number one during all his 4 years at West Point Academy. He got a 99% approval rate. Good enough grade to fall into the eyes of General of the Army John MacAstie, general of the Pacific front during WWII. He became a first lieutenant in 1950, and, together with GA MacAstie, he went to Korea. There, he fought like a madman and it became very apparent that he was made to war. From setting logistics to making strategies, he excelled in them all. That was so clear that, in 1952, he had already become a major.
As the war came to an end, he realized the sad truth of the military: they were expendables. If not, why would so many lives be lost to a war that ended in a status quo? Why so many sacrifices, with no benefits? They were a few months from making the sacrifices of so many brothers-in-arms truly worth it, and they just let it all go? For what? For a shallow peace? A bloody peace, from a paper made without the opinion of the combatants, only so that the "public opinion" would be in the favor of politicians that lived in luxury and never got a single drop of blood in the battlefield?
No! That is wrong! But what Isaac could do? So he swallowed his opinions. He spent 2 years in the UN, until Vietnam. There, as a lieutenant-colonel, he got back to fighting for home. During 1955 until 1975, he fought in the jungles, and got a lot of medals. Purple Heart, Distinct Service, Silver Star, etc. By 1975, he was a brigadier general. And, yet again. He was disappointed by his country.
Another needless sacrifice of brothers, for a peace that didn't last.
More years went on, and he became a lieutenant-general. By that time, he was 62 years old, and another thing happened: the Gulf War started. This time he didn't go to the battlefield. He went to the defense companies, and did what he did the best, something that wasn't killing or ordering other to kill, no, no. It was to develop ways for third parties to kill others. He developed the Bunkerbuster, and, before the war, he helped the development of the M1 Abrams. He was a genius in weapon development. He had hundreds of designs, but they never saw the light of day for one singular reason: that weapons were weapons for killing, not fighting. Thanks to his efforts, he became a General. He became the top.
after achieving the pinnacle, General Isaac Matthew Oliveira-Ehrlich started to slow down. He became more immersed in weapon designing and general knowledge . He was already brilliant, and he only became more and more like an encyclopedia.
All was roses, until 2003. The Iraq War has begun. As one of the leading officers under the Army, he started focusing on developing new war plans. The situation was good until 2008.
2008:
"Good Morning, General."
"Good Morning, Secretary. May I know why you are here?"
"well…" The Secretary of Defense smiled awkwardly "Do you remember your last war plan?"
"of course. I remember all my plans. They are all carefully created with intense research behind."
"Then, why you offered a massacre as a solution?" The smile was gone, and only deception was left in the Secretary's face.
"Iraq was and still is a gunpowder barrel. If we want for it to never go off, we need to eliminate the primary threat. With the plan, the war ends in 6 months, we get 2 allies in the region and minimize our losses. What is the problem?"
"You are talking about gassing the capital with Napalm. You are talking about the horrible death of hundreds of unarmed individuals. Men, women, children. Innocents. Why?" The secretary was incredulous.
"If we don't do it the way I'm telling we should, there are going to be 3 more years of war and the region will become a hotbed of catastrophes. Either we do it the immoral but correct way or we get moral and problematic way. Remember: the US won't suffer, but the Iraqi people will, if we choose the problematic path. Also, this isn't the first time we would do something like this. I know that for sure. I fought in Vietnam."
"Those were different times!" The Secretary yelled "And also, didn't we lose in Vietnam?"
"We lost because of political incompetence!" The General slammed his hand on the table while screamed those words.
"I do not care for your opinion! The president saw your plan, and decided that you are unfit for service because of your dubious mental soundness. From this moment on, you aren't a general for the army anymore, now get out of the Pentagon!"
"Is this a joke?" Isaac said stupefied. "After all I did, I'm just like trash, you use it and then throw out, in a whim? Because of a Plan? A Plan? Because the President doesn't like the idea that I'm right?"
"You think too highly of yourself"
"Believe me. That place will have us hanging and losing money and men like water. This will be a mistake that will be paid with blood of the next generation. Have a good day. I wish you can sleep at night knowing what you did." With these words, Isaac Matthew Oliveira-Ehrlich got out of the room, and leaved the military.
In the end, he was right, and the losses were great. That is the worse part.