Arab armies in 'Small Wars' and the 'Arab Spring' (merged thread)
My experiences come from selected populations, so not necessarily representative of the whole.
-In general, in most of the Gulf militaries, officers are drawn from a select population of influential nationals. Within the militaries, there is a definite hierarchy of officer positions, often with pilot positions going to the best connected/most powerful. Some, like UAE, officer pay is astronomical compared to what even a U.S. officer makes, with great benefits. In countries, particularly Saudi, the military is more of a morning job which leaves the rest of the day to work on the real money-maker which is a personal or family business. In many Gulf militaries, the enlisted ranks are drawn from much less priveledged nationals or even foreigners such as Baluchis or other south Asians. This of course makes the officer-enlisted relationship very asymmetric, especially given the position foreign labor has in these countries.
In Saudi, I worked with their Marine Corps. The officers were generally not drawn from the upper crust of Saudi society and the enlisted were nationals. There did not seem to be a great rift between the officer and enlisted corps. Most of the officers were not very tactically proficient, but some, particularly those who had trained or studied in the U.S. or England were very sharp. Their officers did not seem to me to have the air of arrogance that I noticed in some other militaries. The situation could be quite different in the SANG or the Air Force, which have a quite different social structure.
In Oman, which I think has a more egalitarian society than other Gulf states, the NCO corps seemed to have a lot of strong nationals with good bearing. Their officers were generally proud of their military and relatively proficient as well. I think there is a much higher representation of nationals in the enlisted ranks than in UAE and Qatar, which makes officer-enlisted relations more equal.
In Jordan, I had the opportunity to interact with some SOF officers. They were the most impressive I encountered in the region. They were very professional, motivated, and patriotic. I did not get to experience their officer-NCO interaction very much though.
Expanding Your Knowledge of Modern Arab Military Culture
Expanding Your Knowledge of Modern Arab Military Culture
Entry Excerpt:
Expanding Your Knowledge of Modern Arab Military Culture:
Books on Arab Military Development and Experiences
by CDR Youssef Aboul-Enein, MSC, USN
An understanding of the military roots of various Arab countries is vital as the United States undertakes further engagement in the region. Morocco is an old and valued partner of the United States. Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States as a sovereign nation (20 December 1777), its relationship with America include such trials as weathering the storms of World War Two and today being designated a major non-NATO Ally who has suffered from terrorism with the recent bombings in Casablanca. The Moroccan military has seen service in Bosnia, Somalia and in multiple peacekeeping missions in the Congo and Sierra Leone. Douglas Porch, who teaches at the Naval Postgraduate school, is an expert on French military affairs. He has written a book that discusses the French difficulties in subduing Morocco and brining it under colonial control in his 1986 book, The Conquest of Morocco: A Savage Colonial War (London: PaperMac Books, ISBN 0-333-44461-2). French colonial expansion in the early twentieth century was dominated by a small circle of French politicians and military senior officers who saw that French ideals could be better mastered in its colonial possessions, free from the taint of liberal political and social intrigue, these were the same ultra-conservatives who would be implicated in the infamous Dreyfus Affair, that sent an innocent artillery captain to Devil’s Island on charges of espionage because, above all, he was Jewish.
CDR Youssef Aboul-Enein is Adjunct Islamic Studies Chair at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He is author of “Militant Islamist Ideology: Understanding the Global Threat,” (Naval Institute Press, 2010).
Arab armies and the 'Arab Spring'
A fascinating review by Colonel Norvell B. DeAtkine, a ret'd US Army officer, a SME on the Arab military; the full title being 'Western Influence on Arab Militaries: Pounding Square Pegs into Round Holes', that appeared on an Israeli website today:http://www.gloria-center.org/2013/03...o-round-holes/
The introduction:
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This article is a personal account of U.S. Army Colonel Norvell DeAtkine’s experience in dealing with Arab militaries for over 40 years. Based on observation and study of Arab military establishments, he concludes little of significance has happened to change the deeply embedded character of the Arab military mindset. While there is some evidence that Arab soldiers historically performed better under European officers, there is no evidence that the Western tradition of command ethos outlived the departure of the officers. There is indeed a distinct Arab military tradition and attempts to recreate it in one’s image are not only fruitless, but often counter-productive.
It is in part an update on his 1999 article 'Why Arabs Lose Wars' and much has changed since then - in the Middle East and for outsiders, notably the USA.
Sub-headings are:
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THE ARAB AS UNCONVENTIONAL FIGHTER, CONTINUITY IN THE ARAB MILITARY CULTURE, THE RAPID EVAPORATION OF WESTERN INFLUENCE, PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE EGYPTIAN ARMY, THE IRAQI ARMY EXPERIENCE, WESTERN VERSUS RUSSIAN TRAINING AND LOGISTICS SYSTEMS, THE SAUDI EXPERIENCE and CONCLUSION.
Having read a British Army Review article on the UK Mission to the Saudi Arabian Army, this article provides a good counter-balance (the BAR article is not in the public domain, let alone on-line).
The footnotes have some other gems, especially an US Army Arab-American's comments.
Egypt, Tunisia & Yemen: free articles
A special issue of the Journal of Strategic Studies on The Role of the Military in the Arab Tumult, with free access to The Egyptian Army and Egypt's ‘Spring’ by Hillel Frisch; Abandoned at the Palace: Why the Tunisian Military Defected from the Ben Ali Regime in January 2011 by Risa Brooks and The Military Role in Yemen's Protests: Civil-Military Relations in the Tribal Republic by Michael Knights:http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fjss2...t#.UZOHwCt35uI
Topless Jihad At The Arab Spring-The John Boyd Method
Link to New Yorker article on Topless Jihad and the Arab Spring and Cyber-Warfare! This John Boyd to a tee as he recomended attacking the enemies ethics! The American military is really going to look bad when a bunch of topless girls with computers and facebook pages bring down the Jihad movement:D
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blog...ntcid=obinsite
How effective have Arab armies been at 'small wars'?
Carl in part asked:
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So I got a question for all but especially JCustis, how effective have Arab armies been at fighting small wars and suppressing insurgencies over the years?
Carl,
A number of Arab armies have fought small wars / insurgencies since the 1960's and several have participated in UN peacekeeping, such as the Egyptians in Sarajevo and the Jordanians in Eastern Slavonia. I have not checked, but Wikipedia will have entries on each campaign and army; some are also covered in SWC threads. Not to overlook the volumes by Dr Anthony Cordesman on the arab armies, although I've not seen one of late.
Going from west to east and excluding a number of armies, e.g. Kuwait:
Morocco - long campaign against Polisario over Western Sahara, after the Spanish left; finally achieved a stalemate by building a fortified desert barrier hundreds of miles long. That conflict is not over, but with a ceasefire IIRC. Long ago their army was highly respected when serving with the UN, although most of the commentary was from French sources.
Algeria - a long, brutal COIN campaign, which bubbles along today and rightly their performance is suppression first. It is odd after the brutalities of the anti-French struggle within two decades the state resorted to a 'dirty war'.
Tunisia - at one time a regular UN contributor and rarely used internally.
Libya - during the Gadafy era over-armed and poorly trained. As proved in the Azou Strip (?) border clash with Chad and its French ally (one of the first publicised wars with "technicals") and then their intervention in Libya. If there was a professional cadre I doubt it is involved today, Libya becoming a militia-first state.
Egypt - fought its own "small war" in the Yemeni civil war in the early 1960's, very similar to the early Soviet campaign in Afghanistan; reliant on air power and allegations of CW use. Royalists supported by the UK privately and Saudi Arabia. A largely conventional army with repeated bruising encounters with the IDF, although partly redeemed in the 1973 Yom Kippur war. I don't recall much internal use, Egypt relied on its police and security agencies. Played no role in the Libyan revolt.
Jordan - bruised in wars with Israel and in 'Black September' confronted and defeated the PLO - whose Syrian ally made threats to intervene. Little internal use, relying on its pervasive security agencies. Was a regular UN contributor.
Syria - harsh, brutal suppression of Muslim Brotherhood in Homs (1982?), but very little internal use. Again security agencies to the fore. Decades of involvement in the Lebanon, with shifting alliances and practiced urban fighting regularly - some say marred by corruption and more. There are many comments on the main Syria thread.
Lebanon - a small army with a delicate communal balance having once been Christian-dominated, still has problems of loyalty and effectiveness - which appear to have reduced recently. A history though of ineffectiveness reflecting politics, notably in the south (alongside the UN).
Iraq - far more aware SWC audience, so over to you.
Saudi Arabia - the small army is designed for external defence, with the National Guard (SANG) having internal primacy alongside the police and security agencies. IIRC not exactly a stellar performance in the First Gulf War, despite all the $ spent on kit and training. Rarely deployed externally, including the UN.
UAE - supposedly the new Arab "Prussians", although hamstrung by dependence on non-national recruitment. Its SF have a tiny team in Afghanistan and they were reportedly active in Libya, in larger numbers - alongside other SF.
Oman - a small army, with historical experience of COIN in the Dhofar rebellion, now many years ago and no reported internal deployment since then. I don't recall any UN participation (excl. observers).
From a broader perspective most Arab armies are strictly controlled by the government / royal family, despite assumptions of loyalty they remain a potential threat - as Egypt vividly illustrates. Hence the apparent general preference for using the police and security agencies to repress opposition, with preemption first, and the occasional emergency use of the army. 'Black September' is a good case study, the PLO had been present in Jordan since 1947, more so after 1967 and became a "state within a state". Only after many years was the PLO violently ejected, to the Lebanon and later to Tunisia - another story!
From limited knowledge most Arab armies have not fought full-stop. Only a few have genuine 'small wars' let alone COIN experience.
How effective have Arab armies been at 'small wars'?
A week ago Carl asked, in the thread on Egypt, a question that deserves its own thread:
Quote:
That leads me to conclude that the Egyptian army may know what it's about when it comes to small war fighting. Then it occurred to me that the Algerian army and gov won a very hard small war back in the 90s. So I got a question for all but especially JCustis, how effective have Arab armies been at fighting small wars and suppresing insurgencies over the years? Do we study their efforts?
I will move the responses made to date in a moment, so this opening post will slip down a little.
There is a similar thread on the 'small war' theme: Arab armies and the 'Arab Spring'
Arab Armies and their States: A Troubled Relationship
A new book from Hurst & Co (London) entitled 'Guardians of the Arab State: When Militaries Intervene in Politics, from Iraq to Mauritania' by Florence Gaub.
From the publishers email notice:
Quote:
Guardians of the Arab State explains clearly and concisely how and why military organisations become involved in politics across the Middle East and North Africa, identifying four key factors: a high degree of organisational capacity, clear institutional interest, a forgiving population and weak civilian control.
Looking at numerous case studies ranging from Iraq to Mauritania, the book finds that these factors are common to all Arab countries to have experienced coups in the last century. It also finds that the opposite is true in cases like Jordan, where strong civilian control and the absence of capacity, interest, or a positive public image made coup attempts futile. Gaub convincingly argues that the reasons are structural rather than cultural, thereby proving a counter-narrative to conventional explanations which look at Arab coups along religious or historical lines.
In essence, the questions addressed in this groundbreaking book lead back to issues of weak statehood, legitimacy, and resource constraints — all problems the Arab world has struggled with since independence. It picks up where previous literature on Middle Eastern military forces dropped the debate, and provides an updated and insightful glimpse into the soul of Arab armies.
Link:http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=...6&e=80d42c7c0a
It is not for me, too many books await reading. If you register there is free global P&P. No, I am not on a commission.:wry: