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Did Michael Corleone read The Art Of War?


One of the chapters describes how acting as an incompetent leader and acting like your organisation is on the ropes can be a useful tactic:
(1) It tests your men's loyalty to the cause
(2) It tests their faith in you personally,and your leadership
(3) It lulls the enemy in to a false sense of security
(4) If the enemy has any spies in your camp, not only will this help to ensure your real plans remain secret, it also means they'll be going back to the enemy with misinformation and further enhance this sense of false security.

It's exactly how Michael plays it in the latter stages of the movie. Clemenza passes the loyalty test - Tessio doesn't! And Barzini and the other heads are complacently believing that the Corelones are done, with reports of their demise even reaching Moe Green in Vegas. And he "talked to Barzini"

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Maybe Mario Puzo did.

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