USE SMOKE SCREENS TO DISGUISE YOUR ACTIONS

PARTII: USE SMOKE SCREENS TO

rmumg you, butonly flu’ivurshipperx of Ba’u[,” Then he^wentin tooffer sacrifices^and burntofferingx.

NowJeimhad stationedeight;^man outside,andsaid,^“The

manwho allows_anyof those whom[give^into yourhandstoescape shallforfezt^hislife.^"‘So

as soon ashe had made

anandofoffcring^the burntoffering,^Jehu

milltoIheguard^andto theofficers,^“Goinand slay rhem;le1^notaman escape.^” So whentheyput them

Inthe.s'word,^Iheguard and theofficer:^cast

them umand^wentinto the innermomoflhe houseof^{81111! and}they brought^nmthepillar thatwarin the houseof li’a'al and burned it Amithey^demolished thepillar of^Ba-’alarul deniolixired the house of^Ba11!,^{andmade it(1} [aminetothisday.

ThusJclxuwiped^mu Ba ‘:11from^Israel.

OLDTESTAMENT.

2KINGS10:18-28

24 Law :1

man,withwhom^he

avidly

discussed business. Weil also

brought along

^a

companion,

^{a somewhat}

paundiy

^{man named}

George

Gross. Weil ex-

plained

^to Geezil thathehimself^was a

boxing

^{trainer,that Grosswasone}

ofthe

promising piizefighters

^he

^trained,

^{andthathe hadasked Gross to}

come

along

^{to make sure the}

fighter stayed

ⁱⁿ

shape.

^{For a}

promising fighter,

^{Gross was}

unimpressive looking—he

had gray ^{hair and a} beer

belly—but

^{Geezilwas so} excited about the deal thathedidn‘t

really

^think

about the man’s

flabby

appearance.

Once in

Galesburg,

^{Weil and his uncle went to} fetch the financiers while Geezil waitedin ahotel^roomwith

Gross,

^who

promptly put

^onhis

boxing

trunks. As Geezil half

watched,

^Gross

began

^to shadowbox. Dis- tractedashewas,Geezil

ignored

^how

badly

^{theboxerwheezedafterafew}

minutesofexercise,

although

^his

style

^seemedreal

enough.

^{An hour}

^later,

Weil and his uncle

reappeared

^withthe

financiers,

^an

impressive,

^intimidat

ing

gmupofmen,all

wearing fancy

^suits.The

meeting

^wentwell and thefi- nanciers

agreed

^{to sell the}

lodge

^to

^Geezil,

^{who had}

already

^{had the}

$35,000

^{wiredto a}local bank.

This minorbusinessnow

settled,

the financierssatbackintheirchairs and

began

^to banter about

high ^finance, throwing

^outthename

‘f].

^{P. Mor~}

gain”

^asif

they

^{knew theman.}

Finally

^{oneof themnoticedtheboxerinthe}

corneroftheroom.Weil

explained

^whathewas

doing

^there.The financier countered that he^toohadaboxerinhis

entourage,

^whomhenamed. Weil

laughed brazenly

^{and exclaimedthathismancould}

easily

^{knockouttheir}

man. Conversation escalated into

argument.

^{In the heat of}

passion,

^Weil

challenged

^{thementoabet. Thefinanciers}

eagerly agreed

and left to

get

theirman

ready

^fora

fight

^thenext

day.

As soon as

they

^had

^left,

^{the uncle}

yelled

^at

Weil, right

^{in front of}

Geezil:

They

^{did not have}

enough

money ^{to bet}

with,

^{and once the fi-}

nanciersdiscovered

this,

the uncle would befired.Weil

apologized

^forget»

ting

^{himinthismess,but hehada}

plan:

^{He knew}the other boxer

well,

^and

witha little

bribe, they

^{could fixthe}

fight.

But where would the money

comefromfor the bet? the uncle

replied.

^Withoutit

they

^{were as}

good

^as

dead.

Finally

Geezil had heard

enough. Unwilling

^to

jeopardize

^{his deal}

with_anyill

will,

he offeredhisown

$35,000

^{cash for}

part

^ofthebet. Even if helost

that,

he would wireformoremoney and still make^a.

profit

^onthe

sale ofthe

lodge. The

^{uncle and}

nephew

thanked him. With their own

$15,000

and Geezil’s

$35,000 they

would manage ^tohave

enough

^{for the}

bet. That

evening,

^as Geezil watched the two boxers rehearse the fix in the hotelroom,his mind reeledatthe

killing

^hewas

going

^{tomake fromboth}

the

boxing

^{match andthesale ofthe}

lodge.

The

fight

^took

place

^{in a} gym the ^next

day.

Well handled the

cash,

which was

placed

^for

security

^{in a locked box.}

Everything

^was pro»

ceeding

^as

planned

^{inthe hotelroom.Thefinancierswere}

looking glum

^at

how

badly

^their

fighter

^was

doing,

^andGeezilwas

dreaming

^aboutthe easy money he ^was about to make.

Then, suddenly,

^{a wild}

swing by

^{the li-}

nai1cier’s

fighter

^{hit Grosshard intheface,}

knocking

^{himdown. Whenhe}

hit the canvas, blood

spurted

^{fromhis mouth. He}

coughed,

^then

lay

^still.

One of the

financiers,

^aformer

doctor,

checked his

pulse;

^{hewasdead. The}

millionaires

panicked: Everyone

^hadtoget^{outbefore the}

police

^arrived-—

they

could all be

charged

with murder.

Terrified,

^Geezil

hightailed

^itoutof the gym and back^to

Chicago,

^leav-

ing

^{behind his}

$35,000

^{which hewas}

only

^too

glad

^to

forget,

^foritseemed

asmall

price

^topay^toavoid

being implicated

^{inacrime.Heneverwanted}

toseeWeilorany of the others

again.

AfterGeezilscurried out, Gross stood up, under his ^{own steam.}The blood that had

spurted

^{from hismouthcamefroma}ball filled with chicken blood and hotwaterthat he had

hidden

ⁱⁿhis cheek. The whole affair had been masterminded

by Weil,

better knownas“the Yellow

Kid,”

^{oneof the}

most creative con artists in

history.

^Weil

split

^the

$35,000

^{with the fi-}

nanciersandtheboxers

(all

^fellowcon

a:u'sts)—a

^nicelittle

profit

^forafew

days’

^work.

Interpretation

The YellowKid had stakedoutGeezilasthe

perfect

^sucker

long

^{before he}

setupthe con.He knewthe

boxingmatch

^scamwould be the

perfect

^ruse

to

separate

Geezil from his money

quickly

^and

definitively.

^{But he also}

knew that if he had

begun by trying

^{tointerestGeezilinthe}

boxing ^match,

he would have failed

miserably.

^{He had to} conceal his intentions and switchattention,^createasmokescreen-—-inthiscasethe saleofthe

lodge.

On thetrainride andinthe hotel^roomGeezil’s mindhadbeencom-

pletely occupied

^{with the}

pending deal,

the easy money, the chance ^to hobnob with

wealthy

^{men. Hehad failedtonotice that Gross wasoutof}

shape

^and

middle-aged

^{atbest. Suchis the}

distracting

power ^{of a}smoke

screen.

Engrossed

ⁱⁿ the business

deal,

^{Gee-zil’s attention was}

easily

^di—

vertedtothe

boxing match,

^but

only

^ata

point

^{when itwas}

already

^toolate

forhimto noticethe details that would have

given

Gross away. Thematch, after

all,

^now

depended

^{on a}bribe rather thanonthe boxer’s

physical

^condi~

lion.And Geezilwas sodistractedattheend

by

^theillusion ofthe boxer’s death thathe

completely forgot

about his money.

Learn from theYellow Kid: The

familiar, inconspicuous

^{front is the}

perfect

^smokescreen.

Approach

your mark with ^anideathatseemsordi~

nary

enough—a

^business

deal,

^financial

intrigue.

The sucker’s mindisdis

tracted,

^his

suspicions allayed.

^Thatiswhen you

gently guide

^himontothe

second

path,

^the

slippery slope

down which he slides

helplessly

^intoyour

trap.

OBSERVANCE OFTHE LAW II

Inthe

mid-1920s,

^the

powerful

warlords of

Ethiopia

^were

coming

^tothere- alization that ^a young ^man of the

nobility

^{named Haile}

Selassie,

^also known as Ras

Tafari,

^was

outcompeting

^{them all and}

nearing

^the

point

where hecould

proclaim

himself their

leader, unifying

^thecountry^{for the} first time in decades. Most of his rivals could not understand how this

wispy,'quiet,

mild—mannered ^man had been able to take control. Yet in

?:l:\llAI\':\tIIi‘}SS THE (N l‘Ll\.\l\ BROAD I)-’\\‘l.l(;llT

Thismeansto create:1

from^thateventually becomesimbued with

flilfl[VflDSfl/IE7?^0!

irrtpresxiannffamilizzb ily,within which the strategistmay^mcmeu- ver unseenwhile all eyes^aretrainedto sea obn'mrsfaniiliarities.

“’l‘!ilE'mmTv-six sTR;n'r.Gn-5.“QUOTET)rs TH]: JAPANESE ARI‘Ul“

WAR.

THOMASCrmsv,¹⁹⁹¹

26 LAW 3

1927,

^{Selassie was ableto summonthe}

warlords,

^{one ata}time,^{to cometo} AmldisAbabatodeclare their

loyalty

^and

recognize

^himasleader.

Some

hurried,

^some

hesitated,

^but

only

^one,

Dejazmach

^{Balcha of}

Sidamo,

^dared

defy

^Selassie

totally.

^A

blustery

^{man, Balchawas a}

great

warrior,and he considered the newleaderweakand

unworthy.

^He

point- edly stayed

away from the

capital. Finally ^Selassie,

^inhis

gentle

^{but stern}

way, commanded Balcha ^{to come.} The warlord decided to

obey,

^{but in}

doing

^{so he would turn the tables on this}

pretender

^{to the}

Ethiopian

throne: He would ^come to Addis Ababa^at his ^own

speed,

^{and with an}

army^of10,000men,^a.force

large enough

^{to defend}

himself, perhaps

^even

start a civil ^war.

Stationing

this formidable force in a

valley

three miles from the

capital,

^he

waited,

^asa

king

would. Selassie wouldhave tocome tohim.

Selassie did indeed send emissaries,

asking

^{Balchato attend an after»}

noon

banquet

^{in his honor. But}

^Balcha,

^no

^fool,

^knew

history—he

^knew

that

previous kings

^{and lords of}

Ethiopia

^{had used}

banquets

^{as a}

trap.

Once hewasthere and fullof

drink,

Selassie would have him arrestedor

murdered.To

signal

^his

understanding

^{of the}situation, ^he

agreed

^tocome

tothe

banquet,

^but

only

^{ifhe could}

bring

^his

personal b0dyguaId—-500

^of

his best

soldiers,

all armed and

ready

^to defend him and themselves. To Balcha’s

surprise,

Selassie answered with the utmost

politeness

^{that he}

would be honored^to

play

^{hosttosuchwarriors.}

On the way ^to the

banquet,

^Balcha warned his soldiers not to get drunkandto beon their

guard.

^When

they

^arrivedatthe

palace,

^Selassie

washis

charming

^{best.Hedeferredto}

Balcha,

treated himasif he

desper- ately

^{needed his}

approval

^and

cooperation.

But Balcha refused to be

charmed,

and he warned Selassie thatifhedidnot return to his_camp

by nightfall,

his army had orders ^to attack the

capital.

Selassie reacted as if hurt

by

^{hismistrust. Over the}

^meal,

^whenitcame time for the traditional

singing

^ofsongs inhonor of

Ethiopia’s ^leaders,

^{he madea.}

point

^of

allowing only

songs

honoring

the warlord ofSidarno. It seemed to Balchathat Se»

lassie^was

scared,

intimidated

by

^thisgreat^{warriorwho couldnotbeout-} wittecl.

Sensing

^the

change,

Balcha believed that he would be the one to call theshotsinthe

days

^{to come.}

Atthe endoftheafternoon,Balcha and his soldiers

began

^theirmarch

backtocamp amidst cheers and gun salutes.

Looking

^{backto the}

capital

overhis

shoulder,

^he

planned

^his

strategy—-how

^{his own soldiers would}

march

through

^the

capital

ⁱⁿ

triumph

^within

^weeks,

and Selassie would be

put

^inhis

place,

^his

place being

^either

prison

^ordeath.When Balcha^came in

sight

^{of his}camp,

however,

^{he sawthat}

something

^was

terribly

wrong.

Where before there had been colorful tents

stretching

^{as far as} the eye could see, ^now there was

nothing, only

^smokefrom doused fires. What devil’s

magic

^wasthis?

A witnesstold Balcha what had

happened. During

^the

banquet,

^a

large

army, commanded

by

^an

ally

^of

Selassie’s,

had stolen up ^{onBalcha’sen-}

campment by

^{a sideroute he had notseen.} This army had ^{notcome to}

light,

^however:

Knowing

that Balcha would

/have

^hearda

^noisy

^battleand

hurried back with his 600-man

bodyguard,

Selassie had .armed his ^own

troops

with baskets of

gold

^{and cash.}

They

had surrounded Balcha’s army and

proceeded

^to

^purchase

^{everylastoneof}their weapons. Those who^re»

fusedwere

easily

intimidated.Withinafew

hours,

^{Balcha’sentireforce had} been disarmedand scatteredinall directions.

Realizing

^his

danger,

Balcha decidedtomarch south with his 600sol- dierstoregroup, but the^samearmy thathaddisarmed his soldiers blocked his way. The other way^outwastomarchonthe

capital,

but Selassiehadset a

large

army^todefendit. Likeachess

player,

^{he had}

predicted

^Balcha’s

moves,and had checkmatecl him. For the firsttime in his

life,

^Balchasur- rendered. To

repent

^{his sins of}

pride

^and

ambition,

^he

agreed

^{to enter a}

monastery.

‘

Interpretation

Throughout

^Selassie’s

long reign,

^{no one could}

quite figure

^{him out.}

Ethiopians

^like their leaders

fierce,

^but

Selassie,

^{who wore} the front ofa

gentle, peaceloving

^man,lasted

longer

than any of^them.Never angry^or

impatient,

he lured hisvictims withsweet

smiles, lulling

them with charm and

obsequiousness

before he attacked. In the case of

Balcha,

^Selassie

played

^{onthe man’swariness, his}

suspicion

^thatthe

banquet

^{was a}

trap—

whichinfact_{it was,}butnottheonehe

expected.

Selassie’s way of

allaying

Balcha’s

fears—letting

^him

bring

^his

bodyguard

^tothe

banquet, giving

^him

top billing ^there, making

^{him feelin}contro1—-created^athick smokescreen,

concealing

^{the realaction}three miles away.

Remember: The

paranoid

and wary ^are often theeasiest todeceive.

Wintheirtrustinone areaand you have ^asmokescreenthatblindstheir View in

another, letting

you creep up and level them with ^a

devastating

blow.A

helpful

^or

apparently

^honest

^gesture,

^{or onethat}

implies

^theother

persorfs supen‘ority——these

^are

perfect diversionary

^devices.

Properly

^setup, the smoke ^{screenis a}weapon ofgreatpower. ^Iten- abledthe

gentle

^Selassieto

totally destroy

his enemy, without

firing

^a

single

bullet.

Donotunderestimatethepower

of Tafari.

^Hecreefis likea mousebut he has

jaws

^likealion.

fimlrimn/‘Sidmn.o’.slast ruarzls’be/ima erztmzivcg^thez:rnn.a.stary

KEYS TO POWER

If youbelievethat deceivers are colorful folk who mislead with elaborate lies and tall

tales,

you ^are

greatly

mistaken. The best deceivers utilize ^a bland and

inconspicuous

front that callsnoattentionto themselves.

They

know that

extravagant

^{words and}

gestures immediately

^raise

suspicion.

^In-

stead, they envelop

their marlcⁱⁿthe

familiar,

^the

banal,

the ha.rmless. In Yellow Kid Weil’s

dealings

^{with Sam}

^Geezil,

the familiar was abusiness deal. In the

Ethiopian

^{case,itwas Selassie’s}

misleading obsequiousness—

exactly

what'Balcha.wouldhave

expected

^fromaweaker warlord.

LAW3 27

LAW 3

Once you have ^lulled your suckers’ ^attentionwith the

familiar, they

will notnotice the

deception being perpetrated

^{behind their}backs. This derives froma

simple

^truth:

people

^can

only

^{focuson one}

thing

^atatime.It

is

really

^toodifficult for them to

imagine

that the blandandharmless per~

son

they

^are

dealing

^withis

simultaneously setting

up

something

^{else. The}

grayer and more uniform the smokein your smoke screen, the betterit conceals yourintentions.Inthe

decoy

^{and red}

herring

devices discussedin PartI,you

actively

^distract

people;

^{in thesmokescreen,you}lull your^vic- tims,

drawing

^themintoyour web.^{Because itis so}

hypnotic,

^{this isoften}

the best way of

concealing

yourintentions.

The

simplest

form of smoke^screenisfacial

expression.

^Behinda

^bland,

unreadable

exterior,

^allsortsof

mayhem

^canbe

planned,

without detection.

Thisisaweapon that the^most

powerful

^menin

history

have learnedtoper- fect. Itwassaidthatno onecould readFranklin D.Roosevelfs face. Baron

james

^{Rothschildmadea}

lifelong practice

^of

disguising

^{his real}

thoughts

^be

hind bland smiles and

nondescript

looks. Stendhal wrote of

Talleyrand,

“Neverwasaface lessof^abarometer.”

Henry Kissinger

^{would bore}his op—

ponents

^{around the}

negotiating

^{tableto tears with his monotonousvoice,}

his blank

look,

his endless recitations of

details; then,

^astheir eyes

glazed

over, he would

suddenly

^{hitthem with a} list of bold terms.

Caught

^off»

guard, they

^{would be}

easily

intimidated.Asone

poker

^manual

explains

^it,

“While

playing

^his

^hand,

^the

good player

^{is seldom anactor. Instead he}

practices

^abland behavior thatminimizesreadable

patterns,

frustrates and confuses

opponents, permits greater

concentration,”

An

adaptable concept,

^{the smokescreen canbe}

practiced

^{on a num-}

berof

levels,

^all

playing

^onthe

psychological principles

^ofdistraction and misdirection. Oneofthemost effective smoke screensis the noble

gesture.

People

^{wanttobelieve}

apparently

^noblegestures^are

genuine,

^{forthe belief}

is

pleasant. They rarely

^noticehow

deceptive

^these

gestures

^canbe.

Theart

dealerjoseph

^{Duveenwas once}

^confronted

^{withaterrible}

prob-

lem. The millionaires who had

paid

^so

dearly

^{forDuveen’s}

paintings

^were

running

^{outof wall}space,and with inheritancetaxes

getting

^ever

higher,

^it

seemed

unlikely

^that

they

^would

keep buying.

The solutionwasthe National

Gallery

^{ofArt in}

Washington, D.C.,

which Duveen

helped

^{createin 1937}

by getting

Andrew Mellon todonate his collectionto it. The National

Gallery

was the

perfect

^{front forDuveen. Inone}gesture,his clients avoided taxes, cleared wall space^fornew

purchases,

and reduced the numberof

paintings

on the

market, maintaining

^the

upward

pressure ^on their

prices.

^{All this} while the donors created the appearance^of

being public

benefactors.

Anothereffective smokescreenisthepattern,the establishment ofa se

ries of actionsthat seduce thevictim into

believing

you will^continueinthe

sameway.The

pattern plays

^onthe

psychology

^of

anticipation:

^{Our behav~}

ior conformsto

patterns,

^{or so weliketothink.}

In1878 the American robber

baronjay

Gould created^acompany that

began

^tothreaten the

monopoly

^{of the}

telegraph

company^WesternUnion.

The directors ofWestern Union decided to

buy

Gould’s company up-

they

^hadto

spend

^a

hefty

^sum,but

they figured they

^had

managed

^{to rid}

themselvesofan

irritating competitor.

^{A fewmonths}

^later, though,

^Gould

wasit at

again, complaining

he had been treated

unfairly.

He started up ^a second_companyto

compete

with WesternUnion andits new

acquisition.

The same

thing happened again:

Western Union

bought

^{him out toshut}

him up. Soon the

pattern began

for the thirdtime,^butnowGouldwentfor the

jugular:

^He

suddenly staged

^a

bloody

^takeover

struggle

^and

managed

to

gain complete

^{control ofWesternUnion. He had}established a

pattern

that had tricked the

company’s

^{directors into}

^thinking

^his

goal

^{was tobe}

bought

^{out atahandsomerate.Once}

they paid

^him

^off, they

relaxed and failedtonotice that hewas

actually playing

^for

higher

stakes. The

pattern

^is

powerful

^{inthatitdeceives}the other person^into

expecting

^the

opposite

^of

what you^are

really doing.

Anotlier psychological

^{weaknessonwhich}to constructasmoke^screen isthe

tendency

^tomistakeappearances for

reality-——the feeling

^{that ifsome-}

one seemsto

belong

^toyourgroup, their

belonging

^mustbereal. This habit makesthe seamless blend^avery effective front.^{The trickis}

simple:

^Yousim«

ply

^{blendin with} those around you. The betteryou

blend,

^{the less}

suspi-

ciousyou become.

During

the Cold Warof the 1950s and

’60s,

^asisnow notorious,^{aslewofBritish}civilservants

passed

^{secrets totheSoviets.}

They

wentundetectedfor_yearsbecause

they

^were

apparently

^decent

chaps,

^had

gone^{toall the}

right ^schools,

^andlitthe

oldvboy

^network

perfectly.

^Blend~

ing

^{in is the}

perfect

^{smokescreenfor}

spying.

The better youdoit,^thebet-

teryou^canconcealyour intentions.

Remember:Ittakes

patience

^and

humility

^todull your brilliant

colors,

to

put

^onthe mask of the

inconspicuous.

^Donot

despair

^at

having

^towear

suchabland rnask~—itisoften your

unreadability

^{that draws}

people

^toyou andmakes you appear^aperson of power.

Image:

^A

Sheep’s

^Skin.

A

sheep

^{nevermarauds,}

a

sheep

^never

^deceives,

a

sheep

^is

magnificently

dumb and docile.Witha

sheepskin

^{on his}

^back,

a fox can pass

right

into the chicken coop.

Authority:

Have you ^ever heard ofaskillful

general,

^whointendsto

surprise

^a

citadel, announcing

^his

plan

^{to his}

enemy?

Conceal your purpose ^and hide your progress; ^{do not} disclose the extent of your

designs

^until

they

^cannotbe

opposed.

^{until the combatisover. Win}

the

victory

^{before you}declare the ^war. In aword, ^{imitate thosewalk} like

people

^whose

designs

^arenotknownexcept

by

^the

ravaged

^coun—

try

through

^which

they

^have

passed. (Ninon

^cle

^Lenclos, 16234706)

LAW 3 $29