The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL); Gen. Prince C. Johnson held a press conference a few weeks ago. According to Gen. Johnson, the press conference was to assure Liberians that the AFL was ready to deal with anybody who plans on bringing the war in Liberia.
The well-spoken young Army Chief touted the progress made by the army under the administrations of former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and current president George Weah. Furthermore, Gen. Johnson told the press and his supporters, that the AFL is equipped, motorized and is prepared to face any protests if called upon.
Well, on the surface, this seems to be a good thing for Gen. Johnson to ensure Liberians that it has an army that is prepared to face anyone bent of causing insurrection, something Liberians have experienced from December 1989 to 2003. The 15 long years of bloody civil war ended only when the International community pressure former president Charles Taylor to step down. Mr. Taylor’s departure paved the way for an interim government under Charles G. Bryant and subsequent elections in 2005.
General Johnson is the army chief and not the Defense or Justice Minister to go on a media blitz to build Liberians confidence in the AFL. His role as army chief is to lead his troops, get them prepared and when the unfortunate situation should happen, the army will be in the position to ably put the unrest under control and restore peace so that the people can go about their normal lives.
For most Liberians, Gen. Johnson did little to guarantee them that the AFL is capable of effectively quelling any armed conflict because they have lived this before and those who provided all those assurances during President Samuel Doe’s administration either fled the country, were killed in combat, captured or defected to the rebels.
Early 1990, most Liberians, especially those in and around Monrovia, since most parts of the country at the time did not have access to televisions, remember Gen. Moses Wright. Gen. Wright, was arguably, one of the first high profile AFL Chiefs to visit Nimba County at the inception of the crisis. The general tried to restore hope and confidence in the Liberian people that the army was winning the war against the huge propaganda machine of Charles Taylor rebels. The well-attired Gen. Wright showed on television to President Doe some of what the army was doing to expel the rebels. Most Liberians who were glued to their television sets watching Gen. Wright’s presentation were impressed, not only with how detailed and well-spoken the General was, not also how well dressed he was, but the people needed such insurance to relieve their fears. The difference here is that the political authority invited the general to make a propaganda appeal to Liberians who were scared and worried that the rebels were winning the war.
It is important to point out that the army during that time was as trained or maybe more qualified than the army of today. The AFL was equipped, they were tested, they were well fed, they lived-in army barracks, they were capable, and when called upon to respond in a heartbeat to the crisis. Furthermore, they respected the constitution and on multiple occasions had sided with Liberians by refusing to use force on armless civilians to solve political problems.
The civil war in Liberia never ended because our army was equipped, trained, or qualified, if qualification today means only admitting people who are high school graduates and above. The war ended because Liberians, with the assistance of the international community, wanted the war ended and mounted pressure on the fighting forces, none of whom could win on the battlefield but turning their guns on armless civilians and looting everything they could lay the hands-on.
This well-spoken young Liberian AFL Chief Johnson knows or should know that it is easier to stop an armed conflict than the stop one and it has little to do with the amount of equipment the army has to deal with that conflict. As an army general, Johnson is aware of the Soviet Union going into Afghanistan in 1979 and leaving in disgrace in 1989 without defeating the mujahideen rebels. General Johnson is aware of the great army of the United States going into Afghanistan since October 7, 2001, following the September 11, 2001 terrorists’ attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. However, with all the high-tech military hardware you can possibly imagine, the US is unable to end the war militarily. Now, the world’s only remaining superpower, the United States is facilitating and helping the Afghan government and the Taliban go to the negotiating table to resolve this long-drawn-out conflict through dialogue.
Liberia is a poor country, and we think that the only assurance Liberians need is that their government provides employment opportunities for the youth to get them occupied so that they are not used as instruments of war. Moreover, Liberians know that when the police are unable to quell violence and not any protest, the last tool in the government’s toolbox is to call on the army for assistance. But the problem with Gen. Johnson is that it is not his responsibility to make the type of statement he is making but that of the Justice or Defense minister.
Let us assume for a moment that Gen. Johnson had made a statement saying that it is not the army’s role to disburse protesting Liberians as it is their constitutional right to peacefully protest. How do you think the Weah government could have interpreted that? The bottom line here is that the army is apolitical and most stay in the barracks and the political person, who is the Defense Ministry official should be making those remarks that the General is making.
Liberians are tired of war and as indicated earlier; they are not ready for a new armed conflict as the previous one did not solve any of the problems that the country was going through before the war. Gen. Johnson action for making these types of statements, in my opinion, is a calculated attempt intended to scare the Liberian people, especially those who disagree with how the Congress of Democratic Change (CDC) led government is running the country and want to bring the administration’s attention to their sufferings.
Let us again think about the reasons why Liberians went to war late 1989; political suppression, poverty, mismanagement of the little resources the country has for the benefit of few, favoritism and nepotism, lack of basic social services across the country, and a population that was unable to feed itself.
The best hope that General Johnson can offer Liberians is to stay in the barracks. Because when war starts, which we think Liberians are fed up with and not contemplating on doing, maybe the AFL might be able to stop that. However, experience taught us that mighty armies were not able to stop the war but most wars end when the people decide to end them. Gen. Wright and the AFL under him was unable to militarily end the civil war that started in Nimba County and we think that there are few Liberians who believe that this AFL will end one if a war should start.