Hi Jallow, to deal with your first question with refrence to the quotation, am sure you are aware of the the catalogue of atrocities committed by the armed forces in Africa. Do you happen to think that these are spontaneous acts of violence. I think you would be very naive to accept that. To understand the brutalities and violence commonly displayed by the armed forces in Africa, you have to dwell on the history of the origins of these forces. Most of the armed forces in Africa were the creation of the colonialist and am sure you are aware of the fact the colonialists purpose for creating armies was mainly to perpetuate their domination of the African people, to achieve this required a very loyal and trustworthy army, hence they instituted a pattern of education that was conciously designed to make their recruits conform to their desires. Hence evolved in Africa and institution that was a machine of suppression. After indepence most of the governments maintained the statu-quo, people's expectatiobns were dashed hence popular uprisings became the order of the day. To control these uprisings the armed forces revert to the same role and functions as a tool or mechanism of oppression. Tis in brief is the origin of the Army in Africa and the blue print that was left by the colonialist was adopted and even made more crude in some instances. As for Gambia it has a relatively young army and it was created against the backdrop of Kukoi, obviously its purpose was not to defend against our neighbours, since Senegal helped to creat it, hence it's purpose can only serve one function and that is not a detterent against foreign invasion. Its primary function therfore had to be to suppress any form of challenge to the state. Hence from the onset it had a clear mandate, that was why the core of the upper echeleon was mainly people Jawara had faith on. He could not have afforded to put people in high positions if there loyalty was doubted. That was why when you talked about the professionalism and the places you went to study I began to put your mentality in perspective. You see, of course there would be a few of you that would be highly trained and provided with facilities to keep you happy. But the rank and file had little chance of prospering, for them life in the army can be very oppressive and daunting, unlike your ilk who enjoy the trappings and are endowed with absolute power. In fact it is common knowledge that officers in the African armis can get away almost with everything they do as long as they stay loyal to their masters. In such a world of sea professionalism is just a concept after all the professionalism is only directed to the people. When there is conflict with authority then the army is on a hype eager to shoot and kill. Where is the professionalism if the army whose remit should be to protect the people becomes the arch enemy of the people. If this is your concept of professionalism the we have a differing notion of the concept. I feel that a genuine army have a legitimate intrest in the affairs of nation hence they most be politically concious, this is different from being partisan. In fact I hold the believe that there could be legitimate intervention in certain instances where the ruling class has converted into fascism, but this has to be done only to return power to the people instead of usurping to hold onto it. I hope you understand the notion or concept of people's army. A people's army one that is loved and revered by the people and not one that is feared. A people's army must involved in the community, take on some community projects and justify their salaries instead of having to wait for command to storm and brutalise the population. A genuine army can never aim a gun at their citizens and this type of army is yet to imerge in Africa. I hope the form of education in army institutions reflect the democratic as well as socvial needs of the people. For a soldier that is enlighthen can never shot at his brothers and sisters. There cannot be any justificatiopn to shot an kill unarmed cuvilians. >From: Ebou Jallow <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Malik>>Re: call for restraint on abusive adjectives >Date: Sun, 18 Nov 2001 11:42:49 -0800 > >Mr. Kah, > >I thank you for being more forthcoming particularly on your >impressive segue from a universal claim to a specific and incomplete >analysis of African Armies. I want you to clarify this please: >"...in the army in Arica particularly,deliberately exist a >methodology of education designed to turn soldiers into subservient >tools, whose allegiance is not to our constitutions and the rule of >law, but essentially to defend the neo-colonial exploitative class >whose intrest and that of the people quite regularly conflicts." > >I believe if this pegagogy of subservience is "deliberate" in African >Armies then I would have been aware of it. I know for a fact that >the Gambian Army was trained by the British Army during Jawara's >Government. The Officer Corps were trained in the finest military >institutions in this planet- Sandhurst, St. Cyr, Fort Benning >Georgia, Royal Defence College in London, Staff Colleges in Nigeria, >Pakistan, and the USA. I know upon my commission as an officer I >swore an oath of allegiance to the Gambian constitution and to my >Commander in Chief, then Jawara, against all enemies foreign and >domestic. This is almost similar to the oath of allegiance for the >US Armed Forces which I also served and worked at the Strategy and >Plans Division at the Pentagon. So my friend what are you talking >about? >It is true that you don't see in the US the pattern of soldiers >dappling into politics as in most African Armies. The main reason is >the long history of democratic praxis and a complex web of >institutional arrangements that guarantees the subordination of the >military to civil authority in the US. Unfortunately this is not the >case in most young, fragile and vulnerable countries in Africa. >Civil-military relations is a complex issue that the finest minds in >the US are still struggling to understand well. I believe it is >beyond the scope of this forum for us to engage in that argument. >Finally, I would warn you to be careful of putting Ex-Capt. Sankara >on a pedestal. Afterall he was a romantic revolutionary and not an >exemplary model warrior. His charisma loomed larger than any other >attribute he has as a warrior or a politician. No wonder he was the >darling of the anti-establishment media. > > > >===== >Ebou Jallow >Georgetown University >Washington, DC > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Find the one for you at Yahoo! Personals >http://personals.yahoo.com > ><<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> > >To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface >at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html >To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: >[log in to unmask] > ><<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>