DATE=2/4/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-42517
TITLE=SIERRA LEONE / MILITARY
BYLINE=WILLIAM EAGLE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: THE WEST-AFRICAN PEACE INTERVENTION FORCE, ECOMOG,
CONTINUES TO FLUSH OUT REBELS FROM AROUND FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE.
BUT ECOMOG MAY NOT HAVE MUCH TIME. NIGERIAN TROOPS MAKE UP THE
BULK OF THE ECOMOG FORCE AND MANY PEOPLE IN NIGERIA WANT THE
TROOPS OUT OF SIERRA LEONE BY MAY. THOSE SHARING THAT VIEW
INCLUDE NIGERIA'S MILITARY RULER, MUCH OF ITS PRESS, AND SOME
CIVILIAN CANDIDATES FOR THE UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
V-O-A'S BILL EAGLE REPORTS THAT FOR MANY ANALYSTS, THE REAL
QUESTION IS HOW BEST TO CONSOLIDATE PEACE.
TEXT: OBSERVERS SAY DESTROYING SIERRA LEONE WAS RELATIVELY EASY;
REBUILDING IT WILL BE THE REAL FIGHT. AN EIGHT-YEAR CIVIL WAR
HAS LEFT CITIES AND VILLAGES SMOLDERING, AND POLITICS IN RUINS.
PRESIDENT AHMED TEJAN KABBAH HAS NO DEPENDABLE NATIONAL ARMY --
ALTHOUGH HE IS COMMITTED TO REBUILDING IT WITH INTERNATIONAL
ASSISTANCE.
SOME ANALYSTS THINK SIERRA LEONE'S CRISIS IS NOT ISOLATED: THEY
CITE SOMALIA, ANGOLA, AND OTHER COUNTRIES WHERE DISCREDITED
POLITICIANS FIGHT AMONG THEMSELVES -- OR SUPPORT REBEL ALLIES --
IN ORDER TO KEEP POWER AND MONEY.
CHRISTOPHER ALLEN IS A SENIOR LECTURER IN POLITICS AT EDINBURGH
UNIVERSITY AND AN EDITOR OF THE PUBLICATION "THE REVIEW OF
AFRICAN POLITICAL ECONOMY". HE SAYS SCHOLARS DESCRIBE THE
SITUATION FACING SIERRA LEONE AS -- STATE COLLAPSE.
// ALLEN ACT //
PEOPLE COMPETE FOR PUBLIC OFFICE TO EXTRACT RESOURCES
FROM THE STATE, AND NOT TO IMPLEMENT POLICIES [THAT HELP
THE PUBLIC]. IT IS WORTH SPENDING MONEY OR [MILITARY
INTERVENTION] TO GET INTO OFFICE, THESE KINDS OF STATES
ENCOURAGE ETHNIC DIVISIONS AND USE VIOLENCE AS PRIMARY
FORMS OF POLITICAL ACTIVITY TEND TO BECOME INCREASINGLY
CORRUPT AND VIOLENT...THERE MAY BE EVEN IDEOLOGICAL
[CALLS AS IN] RWANDA [FOR ETHNIC CLEANSING] WHICH HAS
NOT HAPPENED [IN SIERRA LEONE] UP TO NOW.
// END ACT //
PROFESSOR ALLEN SAYS REBUILDING GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS TAKES
TIME AND MONEY. HE SAYS PAST EXAMPLES OF REVERSING STATE
COLLAPSE IN AFRICA ARE NOT ENCOURAGING.
/// OPT /// HE SAYS IN UGANDA AND RWANDA, IT TOOK INVADING REBEL
ARMIES TO BRING AN INITIAL MEASURE OF STABILITY. BUT HE NOTES
REBEL INSURGENCIES ARE UNDERMINING THOSE GOVERNMENTS TOO. AND
PROFESSOR ALLEN NOTES THAT IN NEIGHBORING LIBERIA -- YEARS OF
CIVIL WAR ENDED WITH THE ELECTION OF A FORMER MILITIA LEADER,
CHARLES TAYLOR. HE, IN TURN, IS OFTEN ACCUSED OF KEEPING
CONFLICT GOING IN SIERRA LEONE. /// END OPT ///
IN ADDITION TO LIBERIA; BURKINA FASO, LIBYA AND THE PRIVATE
MERCENARIES OF MINING COMPANIES ARE ACCUSED OF SPONSORING SIERRA
LEONE'S TURMOIL. IT IS FOR THIS REASON THAT SOME SAY A MILITARY
SOLUTION IS NECESSARY.
OTHERS WARN GUERRILLA WARS CAN NOT BE WON. SOME CALL SIERRA
LEONE -- NIGERIA'S "VIETNAM" -- IN REFERENCE TO THE UNITED
STATES' LONG STRUGGLE AGAINST VIET CONG GUERRILLAS IN SOUTHEAST
ASIA DURING THE 1960'S. POLITICAL SCIENTIST WILLIAM ZARTMAN
DISAGREES WITH THE ANALOGY:
// ZARTMAN ACT //
IN VIETNAM, THE KEY WAS MAO [ZEDONG]'S DICTUM: "THE
GUERRILLA LIVES IN HIS PEOPLE LIKE FISH IN WATER."
[BUT] THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT FISH IN WATER -- THEY ARE
"POISONING" THE WATER. // OPT // THIS IS A MILITARY
PROBLEM; EVEN IN GUERRILLA WARFARE, [GUERRILLAS] CAN
BE ISOLATED AND HUNTED DOWN; THEY EVEN FOUND WHERE ROBIN
HOOD LIVED IN THE OLD STORY. // END OPT //
/// END ACT ///
WILLIAM ZARTMAN IS THE DIRECTOR OF AFRICAN STUDIES AND CONFLICT
MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS AT THE SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL
STUDIES OF JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY IN WASHINGTON, D-C.
// OPT // HE SAYS SIERRA LEONE IS MORE LIKE MOZAMBIQUE THAN
VIETNAM.
// OPT: ZARTMAN ACT //
THAT IS THE SOBERING PARALLEL. RENAMO WAS A BRUTAL
TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. IT DID NOT CUT PEOPLE'S HANDS
OFF, IT JUST CUT PEOPLE'S HEADS OFF. IT FED OFF OF THE
INEPTITUDES OF THE MOZAMBICAN GOVERNMENT. THEY WERE
REBELS WITHOUT A CAUSE, TOO -- IT WAS FOUNDED BY THE
RHODESIANS AND THEN BY SOUTH AFRICA, AND IT KEPT ON
GOING WITH THE MATERIAL AND SOME SOUTH AFRICAN SUPPORT
AFTER 1990.
// END ACT //
WITH THE SUCCESS OF PEACE TALKS, MOZAMBIQUE'S RENAMO IS NOW A
POLITICAL PARTY WITH AN INTERNAL BASE OF SUPPORT. OBSERVERS
THINK THAT COULD ALSO BE THE FUTURE OF SIERRA LEONE'S REBEL
REVOLUTIONARY UNITED FRONT. // END OPT //
PROFESSOR ZARTMAN BELIEVES IT IS A MISTAKE FOR NIGERIA TO
ANNOUNCE A WITHDRAWAL OF ITS TROOPS FROM SIERRA LEONE. HE -- AND
OTHER ANALYSTS -- BELIEVE THE WEST-AFRICAN INTERVENTION FORCE IN
SIERRA LEONE SHOULD BE STRENGTHENED. MANY BELIEVE ADDITIONAL
TROOPS FROM COUNTRIES LIKE TOGO AND MALI WILL HELP BOOST ECOMOG'S
CREDIBILITY AS A REGIONAL FORCE FOR PEACE -- AND KEEP IT FROM
BEING SEEN AS JUST AN INSTRUMENT FOR NIGERIAN INFLUENCE IN WEST
AFRICA.
PROFESSOR ZARTMAN IS NOT ALONE IN PRESSING FOR A MILITARY
COMPONENT TO PEACE IN SIERRA LEONE.
HE IS JOINED BY POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR WILLIAM RENO OF
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY IN MIAMI, FLORIDA.
// RENO ACT //
COUNTRIES LIKE SIERRA LEONE ARE REACHING THE END GAME
WHERE THE LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT CONTROL IS SO FEEBLED BY
DECAY OF INSTITUTIONS...WHAT DO YOU BUILD ON ? .. YOU
HAVE TO LOOK AT LOCAL INSTITUTIONS BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT
SURVIVES THE BEST.
/// END ACT ///
ONE INSTITUTION PROFESSOR RENO HAS IN MIND IS THE KAMAJORS,
TRADITIONAL HUNTER WARRIORS BASED LARGELY IN ETHNIC-MENDE
COMMUNITIES IN SIERRA LEONE'S SOUTH AND EAST. THEY ARE SAID TO
BE ONE OF THE FEW GROUPS SUCCESSFUL AT BEATING THE REBELS. //
OPT // BUT CRITICS ACCUSE THE KAMAJORS OF COMMITTING THEIR OWN
ATROCITIES AGAINST REBEL COLLABORATORS.. // END OPT //
BUT PROFESSOR RENO SAYS THERE IS NO REASON WHY THE IDEA OF LOCAL
DEFENSE MILITIAS CAN NOT BE INTRODUCED IN SIERRA LEONE'S NORTH.
// OPT // HE SAYS THE KAMAJORS ARE JUST ONE OF MANY TRADITIONAL
IDEAS THAT MIGHT BE INCORPORATED IN THE FIGHT FOR A DEMOCRATIC
AND INDEPENDENT SIERRA LEONE.
// OPT: RENO ACT //
THE HISTORY OF STATE BUILDING IS THE HISTORY OF MAKING
UP TRADITIONS...SIERRA LEONE ALSO HAS WONDERFUL TOOLS
FOR [TRADITION BUILDING]. IN DOWNTOWN FREETOWN [SIERRA
LEONE], THERE ARE TRADITIONS LIKE "THE COTTON TREE."
IT [WAS] PLANTED BY THE FIRST FREED SLAVES BROUGHT BY
BRITISH WARSHIPS. [THE SLAVES] SIGNED A COMPACT FOR
SELF GOVERNANCE, AND WERE ABLE TO RULE THEMSELVES WITH
GREAT PROSPERITY. IT IS A LIVING SYMBOL OF SELF
GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABLE RULE THAT IS LIKE AMERICA'S
"LIBERTY BELL" AND THE CONSITITUTION. IF YOU CAN GET A
GROUP OF [SIERRA LEONEAN] POLITICIANS TO ENCOURAGE
PEOPLE TO [COME TO] SEE THE KAMAJOR LEGACY AS A LEGACY
AGAINST IMPERIALISM AND A WAY FOR COMMUNITIES TO DEFEND
THEMSELVES....THAT IS A WAY YOU [BUILD A STRONG STATE].
// END ACT //
PROFESSOR RENO SAYS ARMING AND CREATING NEW LOCAL DEFENSE
MILITIAS, LIKE THE KAMAJORS, IS THE ONLY VIABLE ALTERNATIVE WHILE
PRESIDENT KABBAH TRIES TO REBUILD A COHESIVE NATIONAL ARMY. THE
AMERICAN SCHOLAR SAYS A COMPARABLE CRISIS EXISTED NEARLY
400-YEARS DURING EUROPE'S SO-CALLED "30-YEARS' WAR."
PROFESSOR RENO AND OTHERS SAY THEY HOPE SIERRA LEONE'S TURMOIL
WILL NOT LAST NEARLY AS LONG. (SIGNED)
NEB/RAE
04-Feb-99 2:56 PM EST (1956 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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