Which side of the war are you on, Dr. Linus?

Okay, so explain this to me.

We know from previous episodes that Ben has interacted with someone he "thought" was Jacob or whom he presented to (the real) John Locke as Jacob--the rocking chair spectre in the cabin.

We also know that Ben and Widmore have always presented themselves to each other (and the unseen audience) as on opposite sides of this War that they spoke about a few seasons ago.

And we are now being shown that Jacob and the Man in Black have been in opposition to each other for a long time. We presume that their spiritual opposition has something to do with the war that Ben and Widmore spoke of.

But . . .

If, as Jacob told Hurley during the "Lighthouse" episode that "someone bad is coming," and that bad person in Widmore on the submarine.
And, if Ben and Widmore are on opposite sides of this war.
And, if that means that Widmore and the Man in Black are on the same side of this war (?).
And, if that means that Ben has now chosen to join with Iliana on Jacob's side . . .

Wait . . . wasn't Ben already on Jacob's side if he was in opposition to Widmore anyway? And didn't Ben always tell everyone that he was taking orders from Jacob--via Richard. Even though we know that they didn't ever interact with Jacob very much.

But wait. When Ben did interact with "Jacob" in the cabin, we now know (don't we?) that this wasn't Jacob--who lived in the shadow of the statue--but was actually the Man in Black--jailed by the ash circle. And we know that the people living in the Temple (people also known to Ben) were aware that the ash was supposed to keep the dangerous Man in Black at bay.

So . . . when Ben took Locke to "see" "Jacob" at the cabin so many seasons ago, he must have known that that wasn't Jacob at all, but was the dangerous, not-to-be-trusted Man in Black that represented the opposite side of the war that he (Ben) was already engaged in.

Right?

Did Ben do it just to easily manipulate John, knowing he was putting on a dumbshow of no consequence? Did Ben not want to trek all the way to the other part of the Island where the statue foot (and the real Jacob) waited?

My head hurts.