[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Irish Wolf

That's Maxim 29 of the Seventy Maxims For Maximally Effective Mercenaries: "The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy. No more, no less."

Originally Posted by Hans Rancke-Madsen

Except you share at least one common interest. Which I'd say was 'more'.


Hans

Originally Posted by jason taylor

That can get complicated. You might for instance want your enemy's enemy to lose on his front because you are afraid of him later. Or you might be fighting two enemies of each other in differing places. Or you might want one enemy on one front to conquer you first to make sure your enemy on the other front does not.

The common interest was specified at the beginning: he's the enemy of your enemy. And its not so much meant as a mathematical statement as as a reminder of all that complicated stuff jason mentioned above and a warning that your allies are not necessarily your friends.