Clearly, a standing army, and a civilian police service must co-operate. But to wrest the powers that constitutionally belongs to one and foist it on the other will create a disarray which only the greedy tongue of terror will feed on.The Defence Amendment Bill will bring terror into the heart of our civilian population. Granting soldiers the same powers as police will spin off into political control and para-militarism.
The civil population which stood up against Dr Eric Williams, ANR Robinson, Patrick Manning and now the Persad-Bissessar government will come under the most heinous forms of attack by soldiers directed by the subterfuge of the politician.
Because of the sheer power of the soldier, his machines and his war organisation, he must act under a direct chain of command. The ordinary private is commanded by the non-commissioned officers, the sergeants, who are in turn held in check by the sub-lieutenants, the lieutenants, the captains, majors, the lieutenant colonels and colonels.
His orders come from above; he is insulated from the politician by a strict system of standard operating procedures, drills, orders which are administered by his army superiors. The soldier takes orders from his superiors, not the politician. An army head who complies with the whim of the politician is a creature of chaos.
Units of highly trained soldiers operating in civilian theatres could easily morph into paramilitary units under the hand of the politician. The politician might use these units if he feels political power slipping from his grasp; he might be a nefarious busy-body wanting to get 'his job' done fast; he might be a vindictive nutcase desirous of hitting back at real or imagined enemies; or he might wish to use soldiers to protect corporate interests which he corruptly has a stake in.
Latin American and Caribbean history is laden with examples of paramilitary units which have done untold damage to civilian populations: assassinations of opposition figures, activists, journalists, trade union members; the spread of terror to tame dissent; bombings, shootings, kidnappings, disappearances.
And in Grenada, it was a politician who ordered soldiers to kill Maurice Bishop and his colleagues; in Guyana, it was a politician who ordered the bombing, by a soldier, on Walter Rodney and his brother. These two luminaries of the English-speaking Caribbean had become threats to the politicians Bernard Coard and Forbes Burnham.
Historically, our standing army has not been used to counter threats of invasion from foreign enemies.The last time this was done was in the heady days of European expansion and internecine warfare in the Caribbean in the late 18th century. In the post-Emancipation era, armies and regiments have been used solely against civilian populations. Against radicals, trade union members, the political opposition, the activist.
Wayne Kublalsingh
via e-mail