Posted on Oct 1, 2020
Does US military training incubate coups in Africa?
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Posted 4 y ago
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The issue not only in Africa, but Central Asia and a lot of Central America, is that the Military is the largest group of educated individuals in those countries, and in some cases, trusted more than the civilian authorities. Take a look at the History of Egypt, as an example, where the Military has stepped in to replace either corrupt and indecisive leadership, or to quell civil disturbances. The military there generally has a better civil rights record than the sitting governments and is trusted by the people. Even in Central America, the limited progress on Civil Rights can be traced to training a portion of their officer class received in the US, where they were taught that shooting everyone and burning their village was not a good solution to civil unrest. Doesn't always work out well, some of the Army's officer and NCO corps are just as corrupt as the rest of the ruling classes.
I am of the opinion that Iraq would have worked out a lot better if we had coopted the Regular Army instead of disbanding it.
I am of the opinion that Iraq would have worked out a lot better if we had coopted the Regular Army instead of disbanding it.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
SSG (Join to see) - Not that I totally disagree with that thought, but not invading had it's own set of issues. It left us providing security on a permanent basis for Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and American presence in Saudi Arabia was the big issue with the Jihadist. Iraq was bombed on a regular basis all during the Clinton Administration, so it wasn't that we were not constantly militarily involved anyway. Not intervening at all doesn't hurt my feeling, however.
If you want the best and most serious look at the post invasion through surge era of the Iraq War, read Bing West's The Strongest Tribe. It's a hard book to read since West seems to assume that you know all of the players as well as he does, but it gives a good look as what we did wrong and what we did right.
If you want the best and most serious look at the post invasion through surge era of the Iraq War, read Bing West's The Strongest Tribe. It's a hard book to read since West seems to assume that you know all of the players as well as he does, but it gives a good look as what we did wrong and what we did right.
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And in a recent dissertation, post-doctoral fellow Renanah Miles Joyce finds that, on average, US training in Africa reduced military involvement in politics and human rights violations.
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SSG Robert Mark Odom Definitely a Worthwhile Conversation Considering Our Record in South and Central America and the "School of the Americas".
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