Memórias e reflexões expostas em poucas palavras – Memories and reflexions in few words
When one travels well inside Afghanistan’s landscape, on the Central Highlands of the Indukush, one may still encounter remains of the old Silk road. Fortresses constructed to host and protect the passing-by caravans.
That is the beauty of the UN mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA); respecting the conflict restrictions but, simultaneously, profiting from every opportunity to engage with the locals and do proper Civil Military Coordination (CIMIC).
Surgiram esta semana vários comunicados informando que os Estados Unidos teriam encetado conversações com a liderança Taliban para o fim do conflito no Afeganistão. Não deverá ser novidade para ninguém, uma vez que estamos (2020) em ano de eleição Presidencial nos Estados Unidos. Efectivamente, a resolução de problemas além-fronteiras tem sido (e ainda bem que assim é) temática de campanha eleitoral Americana desde… sempre.
Como é sabido (ou talvez não) os americanos têm um sistema complexo de eleições, onde o Presidente pode “medir o pulso” da sua reeleição através dos resultados das eleições intercalares (Senado e Congresso) que ocorrem a meio do seu mandato (daí chamarem-se “Mid-Term Elections”).
As iniciativas de Guerra e Paz americanas, decididas “lá dentro” para acontecerem “lá longe” à maneira “pentagonista”, geralmente coincidem com as datas eleitorais USA. É uma espécie de Diplomacia Internacional para consumo eleitoral interno.
No caso específico Afegão, que já assistiu a muitas retracções de forças estrangeiras, resta saber que tipo de presença o “tio Sam” irá manter no País, porque a retirada pura e simples é algo que já foi feito várias vezes; e continua a haver forças internacionais no terreno.
Senão vejamos (só as mais importantes nas últimas 3 décadas):
2020 – Ano de eleições Presidenciais – Nova ronda de negociações USA/Taliban/Afeganistão, para acordos de paz e potencial retirada de forças USA do Afeganistão.
2018 – Ano de eleições intercalares (Congresso e Senado) – Diplomatas USA têm encontros com a liderança Taliban para preparar o fim do conflito no Afeganistão.
2016 – Ano de eleições Presidenciais – Proposta USA/Rússia para a paz na Síria.
2014 – Ano de eleições intercalares (Congresso e Senado) – Extinção da ISAF (Afeganistão) com retirada massiva de tropas. Guerra contra o Estado Islâmico no Iraque e Síria. Guerra Civil da Líbia.
2012 – Ano de eleições Presidenciais – Aumento exponencial de forças USA no Afeganistão para acabar com o conflito.
2010 – Ano de eleições intercalares (Congresso e Senado) – Nova ronda de negociações de paz Israelo-palestinianas patrocinadas pelos Estados Unidos. Negociações sigilosas USA/Taliban para o fim do conflito Afegão.
2008 – Ano de eleições Presidenciais – Negociações de paz Israelo-palestinianas patrocinadas pelos Estados Unidos.
2006 – Ano de eleições intercalares (Congresso e Senado) – Os Estados Unidos envolvem-se mais na guerra interna Iraquiana; assim como no apoio a Israel na guerra Israelo-palestiniana e na Guerra Civil Somali.
2004 – Ano de eleições Presidenciais – A Reunião magna da NATO anuncia o fim da SFOR (Bósnia) com a retirada de forças USA.
2002 – Ano de eleições intercalares (Congresso e Senado) – Senado Norte Americano aprova a resolução para o uso da força militar contra Saddam Hussain (Iraque). Início da Força Internacional liderada pelos Estados Unidos (ISAF) no Afeganistão.
2000 – Ano de eleições Presidenciais – Tentativa (falhada) de Acordos de Camp David Israel-Palestina, promovido pelos USA.
1998 – Ano de eleições intercalares (Congresso e Senado) – Acordos de paz US/Israel/Palestina para Faixa de Gaza.
1996 – Ano de eleições Presidenciais – Entrada em vigor dos Acordos de Dayton, promovidos pelos USA, para o fim da Guerra na Bósnia e começo das operações NATO (IFOR) na Bósnia-Herzegovina.
1994 – Ano de eleições intercalares (Congresso e Senado) – Acordos de paz Israel-Jordânia promovidos pelos USA.
1992 – Ano de eleições Presidenciais – Estados Unidos fortemente envolvidos na resolução dos conflitos da ex-Jugoslávia.
Pode parecer uma postura cínica … se calhar até é … mas ainda bem que assim é! Porque, se não for assim não há resolução de conflitos. Quer queiramos que não, actualmente, os Estados Unidos são a potencia hegemónica com capacidade de travar as guerras que os outros começaram.
Being a peacekeeper, especially if one is an UNMO (UN Military Observer) the mantra is: – “Tolerance”; even if most of the time things have bitter taste.
Back in 1992-1995, in UNPROFOR (Bosnia), the peacekeepers had tolerated just about everything and everybody on the literal sense. The verb “Tolerate”, in its original Latin form – “Tolerari” – means “to suffer in silence”. That was just what the Military Observers in particular had done for three and half years. They were true Peacekeepers, unarmed, in the middle of the battlefield, suffering in silence their own casualties and trying to get some sense into the Former Warring Factions, to stop the killing.
The men and women of UNPROFOR military contingents had been tailored to do peacekeeping, assuming there was Peace to monitor in Bosnia; but there wasn’t. They stood their ground and endured the most dangerous war in Europe after the Second World War, with a poor mandate and restrictive Rules of Engagement. By the end of 1995, when Peace had been finally signed in Paris (Dayton agreements), the politicians were sending NATO, with its big guns and attack helicopters … to monitor the Implementation of the Peace Agreements.
It seemed things were twisted!
Furthermore, the new “Peace Guardians”, the ones who could actually pull the trigger, looked at the blue helmets with a despising countenance, as if they were incompetents because they were not able to stop that war. An unfair judgement because UNPROFOR soldiers had their hands tied … and if they hadn’t been there, the end state of that war would have been much worst; and the peacekeepers paid a high price for that.
Since the beginning of the Yugoslav Crisis, in 1991, UNPROFOR had suffer 213 KIA fatalities, of which 198 were military from international contingents; six were UNMO officers; three were police agents from CIVPOL; three were civilians from the International Staff; and another three were local contracted civilians.
Only on that year of 1995, 329 UN vehicles were stolen/hijacked and 54 blue helmets had died in Bosnia or Krajina’s conflict. That was half of the deaths of blue helmets in all the UN missions put together in 1995.
Back in 1992, during my first UN mission for UNDP, in Angola, I was tasked to manage the UN aircraft fleet deployed at the largest province of the country – Moxico – whose capital was the City of Luena (former Luso, during the Portuguese times).
We flow to Luena in a small twin engine King Air servicing the UN. Upon arrival, the pilot said I should wait at aircraft apron for someone to recover me and take me to the UN house in town. After having said that, he closed the door and taxied out of the ramp for a rolling take-off out of that place. The wide ramp was absolutely deserted; no aircraft and no people, for the exception of a kid holding a can in his hand trying to collect some wasted aircraft fuel.
Since it had been a very long flight I was desperate to urinate and, following the airmen standard procedure, I left my luggage in the middle of the tarmac, moved out of the paved area into the grassy grounds, unzipped the lower end of the flight suit and satisfied “nature’s call” turning my back to the aircraft apron.
That was when the child approached the limits of the tarmac and yelled very agitated:
– “Mister … mister … You have to return very carefully, and always step on the grass tufts.”
I was no more than 20 meters away from the kid; I finished the “job” zipped back the suit and turned to the child asking with a smile:
– “I’m sorry … why should I return very carefully … and always stepping on the grass tufts?”
– “Tché?! – Said the child incredulous with my ignorance – “Because that type of grass doesn’t grow on top of land mines … dâa!”
At that moment my (idiot) smile felt down to the ground, and I had the sensation that those short 20 meters had just tripled. All of a sudden I had the need to urinate again. I was inside the layer of terrain that had been mined, in order to protect the airfield. I simple forgot that the place was in a dormant civil war, and all my normal movements/actions should be reconsidered according to that different reality.
The challenge now was to overtake those 20 meters. The grass tufts seemed to have grown apart leaving lots of potentially mined reddish soil in between them. There was cold sweat running down my back and a lump in the throat. I inhaled deeply and studied the soil between me and the tarmac and recognize the footsteps printouts of my flight boots. Using grass and footsteps I managed to return safety to the tarmac. My heart rate was extremely high and I was breathing very heavily.
While I was thanking the child for warning me of the danger, the UN people meant to recover me showed up. When I explained what had just happened to me, I got the simple statement:
– “Yeap … we have to put some warning around this place … eventually. Welcome to Luena”; you’re going to love it here!”
Lesson number one – “Upon arrival to a war zone, ask first piss after”.
Peace; is a treasure hidden deep inside everyone of us. Each one of us can dig it up and solve conflicts at their start. In most conflict cases, there’s a need for a discussion forum; a place where people meet and exchange points of view in order to solve their problems. That place is (should be) the United Nations Organization.
Conflict resolution in the UN takes time … not because of inexperience of the interlocutors, but because every step it’s taken must be carefully measured in order to remain in force for the foreseen future.
Something that kids easily understand … but it seams that the adults fail to see.
“The UN was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell.”
Dag Hammarskjöld – United Nations Secretary-General – 1954
A major concern of the peacekeeper that is about to be deployed, is to explain to his/her kids that will stay back home, waiting for his/her return, the reason why he/she is deploying to a faraway country. Our kids deserve to know that peace and safety is not something all the children of the World enjoy. Our children will be ever so proud of their hero peacekeepers, that are far, far away, in a distant country, helping other children to be able to play without being hurt by bad people.
Durante as missões da ONU acontecem inúmeras situações anedóticas dignas de registo.
Recordo uma certa manhã, na missão da ONU em Angola (1992) para apoiar com meios aéreos as Primeiras Eleições Livres, após as aeronaves terem partido como um bando de pássaros do aeródromo de Luena, ter-me sentado para descansar e ligar o leitor de cassetes para ouvir uma música suave. Nessa altura verifiquei que as pilhas estavam gastas. Abri o aparelho e iniciei o procedimento de troca das pilhas. Um miúdo que andava por ali na placa, a tentar catar os desperdícios de combustível de avião Jet A-1, aproximou-se e observou cuidadosamente todos os meus movimentos. Quando eu me preparava para guardar as pilhas velhas, a criança dirigiu-me a palavra:
– “Sôr, dá-me essas pilhas.” – Pediu ele.
– “Companheiro, estas pilhas estão gastas, já não funcionam, perderam a electricidade; entendes?” – Respondi-lhe.
– “Não faz mal, Sôr. Dá-me as pilhas, por favor”. – Insistiu o miúdo.
– “Ho rapaz, eu dou-te as pilhas mas elas não te vão servir de nada. Não consegues tirar nada daí de dentro” – retorqui enquanto lhe dava as três pilhas AA do leitor de cassetes..
– “Consigo, consigo“ – disse ele – “abro-as com uma catana e meto-as dentro de um panelo com fruta e farelo de milho a fermentar, para fazer a Caxipembe [aguardente de milho]. O ácido das pilhas apressa as coisas e amanhã o Caxipembe já está pronto para eu vender no bazar!”
– “Ora toma!” – Pensei eu em voz alta – “Acabaste de receber uma aula de química aplicada, de um puto com 12 anos! Então é assim que vocês fazem Caxipembe Expresso?”
Mas a criança já tinha descolado em direção aos portões do aeródromo, com as três pilhas na mão direita e uma lata com Jet A-1 na outra. Fiquei apreensivo com a qualidade da poderosa aguardente que tinha estado a beber, com os meus amigos Russos, numa das serenatas dessa semana.
In the UNPROFOR mission, back in 1995, there were lots of tales of war gags in Sarajevo that were too funny to be true. However, people swore they were true stories and I registered several of them.
One of such stories occurred among the recently created Muslim Army (ABiH) ranks, at the start of the confrontations, in 1992. Allegedly, some arms’ dealers managed to escape the Serbian control and bring into the besieged city a couple of 82 mm mortars, with a few boxes of its grenades. The problem was, the Muslims did not have soldiers trained in using mortars and the amount of mortar grenades available did not permit much practice or instruction. Therefore, the ABiH Command randomly selected a small group of fresh combatants and assigned them the noble task of becoming artillery “gunners”. Mind you, artillery is one of the most demanding Army Branches, requiring sharp calculations, thorough awareness of meteorology and knowledge of the equipment.
The small group of gunners was assembled and someone explained the theory of operating a mortar. The instruction had to remain at the theoretical level, because they couldn’t afford loosing ammunition with training – even the final demonstration would have to be “on the job training”, aiming at the Serbian neighborhoods of Sarajevo. On the following days, those gunners fired several rounds of mortar towards the generic direction of the Serbian lines; and that was it – they were “qualified”.
Shortly after their “qualification” the ABiH Command decided to hit a certain Serbian position, in order to retaliate a Serbian mortar attack. One of the gunners received a set of binoculars, a scale, a note pad and a walkie & talkie radio, and moved out to an elevated position where he could see the Serbian position and talk with his mortar comrades. Two other gunners were assigned a mortar tube, some 82 mm grenades, and someone point out the direction and distance where their target was.
The gunners fired the first round and the grenade impacted more or less at the correct distance but frankly left of the target. The man at the observation post used his radio and issued instructions with the necessary corrections to the gunners:
– “The distance was correct; but you need to correct the azimuth 100 meters to the right.”
The radio man waited for the second round to be fired, in order to readjust the firing parameters; but nothing happened. Sometime after, the radio man contacted his comrades again, asking why haven’t they fire again; and the answer he got was:
– “Stand-by! These things are very heavy. We’ve already re-positioned the mortar tube 100 meters to the right; but now we also have to carry the grenades.”
As a result of their inexperience, those gunners didn’t realize that all they had to do was to turn the mortar tube a certain number of degrees to the right and fire again; not to move the weapon the 100 meters.
“That’s Silly”; one may say, but that was the way the ABiH learned their War Lessons. Months later, those gunners were striking targets as accurately as any other mortar specialist.
Back in 1995, the Bosnian Warring Factions had discovered the Center of Gravity of the International Community: – “The living-rooms of the European and North American population, during the TV news prime-time”. There was the need to broadcast strong dramatic images, favoring the Bosnian Muslims’ cause; and there were lots of journalists around, desperate to get those strong images; the self-called “Tribe” residing in Holiday Inn – Sarajevo.
Among the UNMO officers, there was an unwritten rule:
– “Keep away from the cameramen … if you don’t want to die on “life TV.”
That unwritten rule was due to the fact that the snipers, from all factions, had the tendency to fire upon UN personnel when the “Media Tribe” was close to them, in order to film it and have in the evening news; hence passing strong messages about the Bosnian War.
The French Contingent lost several good soldiers that way, in Sarajevo. Nothing was happening until the TV crew showed up and, after their arrival; it was “Blue Helmets’ season”.
Nowadays, in any military operation, exercise or HQ ceremony, one has to consider the news media coverage. In most cases, it is not an option; it is a battlefield characteristic.
The military tend not to appreciate the presence of journalists during their activities, not only for reasons of Operational Security, but also because of the criticism media reports tend to convey about military activities. Military planners are very much aware that one should not fight the scenario. We must adjust and overtake. Therefore the new mantra is: “We’ve got to have Strategic Communications.”
Some people may think that Strategic Communications (StratCom) is a new thing in the Public Relations environment. They see it as a new discipline that introduces a different (more active) posture, with modernized products—something like Public Affairs on steroids. That’s not the case! StratCom is the natural evolution of the communication orchestra, which has become too big and it requires a maestro.
Humans are a social species. We need to communicate in order to survive. One cannot live in a society without having some sort of communication with the surrounding people. In today’s world we are so inter-dependable that, if you don’t communicate, you die! Our institutions have exactly the same constraints. An organization without flexible communications will not evolve and, like the dinosaurs, it will become extinct sooner rather than later.
However, in StratCom, the term Communications should be understood in its broadest sense. Actions (or the lack of them) are also forms of communication. In the StratCom business, one must not only “talk the talk”, one must also “walk the walk”; better yet, one must Walk the Talk!
An American philosopher – Ralph Waldo Emerson – once said “What you do speaks so loudly, that I can’t hear a word you’re saying”.
Each operational capability will have its own formatted messaging, with diverse messages tailored for different target audiences. As in an orchestra, what the violin plays in isolation is very different from what the trumpet plays. What StratCom does is to make sure that they all play their different pieces of the music, in tune, so that the melody is harmonious.
Military planners must identify the proper communication tools for each different audience, and master their use. Failure to do so may result in a negative public perception of the operation. Therefore, planning is the first step towards the answer; but it is not the whole solution, because, as Mike Tyson (the famous boxer) said: “– Everybody has a plan … until he is punched in the face!”
It’s adaptability that bridges the route to success. StratCom is based on a dialogue (not a monologue), both internally and externally. Feedback on our communication activities is paramount. StratCom is the empowered maestro who can stop the music, review it with the author, and come back to the orchestra to produce an excellent symphony.
If you don’t do it right … you’ll be under heavy fire of the news media criticism!
Lessons Learned from UN/NATO/EU field missions. The warring faction that doesn’t know how to operate along side with the news media … losses the war.
On the 29th of May 2020, there will be a military parade at Forte do Bom Sucesso, in Lisbon – Portugal, to celebrate the Peacekeepers’ International Day.
The parade, which normally is presided by a high entity of the Portuguese Government and all the higher ranking officers of the police and military Services, also has a strong representation of veterans from the several delegations of the Portuguese League of Former Combatants.
OPen samento 