African militaries

[JMA]

This was the post on the Kenya thread (Post 41):http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...159#post158159

This FP article is germaine to this discussion:

VOICE : Why Are Africa's Militaries So Disappointingly Bad?

... both armies have botched key domestic interventions when crises hit, exposing weaknesses that raise fundamental question marks about operational reliability.

and this:

"The West has this model of a disciplined, neutral army that stands on the sidelines, independent of domestic politics," explains Jakkie Cilliers of the Pretoria-based Institute for Strategic Studies (ISS). "But the African model is of a military that is used internally and is part and parcel of domestic politics and resource allocation."

The question really revolves arround what military operations are possible within the capabilities of the respective armies.