Zambia: US, UK Tactics Are Not Working
By Sheikh Chifuwe
Lusaka — AMERICAN and British tactics against Iraq are not working, observed retired Zambia Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Hannania Lungu yesterday.
Lt.Gen. Lungu, a fighter pilot, underwent his military training in United Kingdom with the Royal Air Force in 1968 and had further training in Yugoslavia, Russia, India and Italy.
He said war planning from 'boardrooms' never exactly worked out the way the planners wanted it to be because when soldiers got on the ground certain things changed. Lt. Gen. Lungu, a former Zambia's ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, said a war was not won by weaponry superiority but people's will and determination.
"If I am planning from an air conditioned office and I send my men out, the situation there is different, the men should be convinced that what they are fighting for is a just cause," Lt. Gen. Lungu said.
" They are saying that they have bombed their targets in Iraq but people (Iraq leaders) are still talking, their tactics don't seem to be working which means the war will be a protracted one." And reacting to the coalition's reportedly attack on their targets in Baghdad, Lt. Gen. Lungu said, "in war, when you hit a target you don't go back there.
If you go back it means your tact is not effective at all." He said the will of defending a country would not die and that the people of Iraq would continue to fight even if there was an installation of another government.
Lt. Gen. Lungu said the real revolution of any country was initiated and implemented by its own people and not outsiders.
He said the invaders had created a hostile situation which would make it difficult to run a government because there would be a lot of suspicion. Lt. Gen. Lungu said the problems being created by United States President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair would engulf the entire world.
"If it came to fighting for Zambia for example, even as I have retired like this I would volunteer because I know that if my country is at risk there will be nobody else but me to fight," Lt. Gen. Lungu said. "And with that kind of a determination I don't think anyone can overcome us."
He said if the mind was weak and resigned, people would fight unwillingly and were bound to lose the war against their enemy. Lt. Gen. Lungu said soldiers always asked themselves what they were fighting for when they went to the battle front.
He said as a junior officer when he was involved in the liberation wars he needed to understand and be convinced that it was a just cause he was fighting for. "When you have men around, they will ask you: 'What are we fighting for or what is the objective and need for us to fight?'" Lt. Gen. Lungu said.
"When the people are not convinced enough in terms of the cause for the war, you tend to lose the spirit and the ability to fight willingly." He said for soldiers or anybody else to fight needed to be convinced that what they were fighting for was a just cause or there was a risk of loosing commitment from them.
Lt. Gen. Lungu said during the independence struggle in Zambia people who were fighting the colonial oppression were using non-conventional equipment but managed to win it because it was a war of purpose. "
They understood exactly what they were fighting for and they understood that it was valuable to them," Lt. Gen. Lungu said. "You look at all these countries which were involved in liberation struggle, although some of them took long, the people won despite the fact that they lost a lot of lives."
He said it was clear that despite the colonial masters use of superior weapons against the people who were ill-armed, their determination and purpose always prevailed. Lt. Gen. Lungu said the oppressors lost the liberation wars because the soldiers they were using to fight the freedom fighters did not find any reason to continue with wars they could not understand.
"In the end, I think it's the will of the people, when they understand what they are fighting for, you can use any weapon you feel like but you can't break the people when they understand that they are fighting for a just cause," he said. Lt. Gen. Lungu said people could even be pushed for decades but their will would always prevail over superior weapons and technology.
He said tactic was also important when people went to war because one would always surprise or excite the enemy. Lt. Gen. Lungu said in Zambia it was difficult to capture rebel leader Adamson Mushala because he was fighting in his own homeland where he knew all the footpaths, trees and terrain.
However, Lt. Gen. Lungu said the war should not have been allowed because approved UN mechanism of disarming Iraq were not exhausted. He said war should always be the last resort in resolving conflicts. "I think the United States should have explored other means but they have now taken a decision that will affect everybody else," Lt. Gen. Lungu said.
"I don't agree with the war myself." He said the wisest thing for the United States and Britain to do was to call for a cease-fire and go back to the United Nations to start afresh on how to resolve the disarmament of Iraq of weapons of mass destruction.
Lt. Gen. Lungu expressed fears that the war in Iraq would take longer than United States President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair had anticipated. He said Iraqis were likely to employ other methods to defend their homeland.
"Those other methods become more devastating and dangerous, these guys are talking about terrorism," Lt. Gen. Lungu said. "Nobody is happy about the demolishing of the Twin Towers but such things can't be ruled out when these people think that is the strong point, they have to hit back."
He said there was also fear that people would start losing confidence in the United Nations that it was a toothless organisation which did not have control over its members.
He appealed for restoration of dignity of the United Nations by its members.
Source: https://allafrica.com/stories/200304020214.html
