POLITICISATION OF
THE MILITARY
Mitt Romney recently accused Barak Obama of politicisation of
capturing and eliminating Osama. Such operations in the United States are executed
by a small team of multi-disciplinary agencies under the direct Command of the Supreme
Commander, the President. Also while all the facts of the operation are placed
before the President, the final decision to execute the operation is that of
the President alone. Those of us, who are familiar with the White
House-Pentagon-CIA network which compiles the action plan, are quite aware of the
briefing that precedes such operations and at times the gaming and modelling of
real time environment. Contradictions have to be resolved by the President before
he enunciates his decision in unambiguous terms, both for purposes of record,
as also to facilitate clear directives to the executing agency. Given that operations
concerning US national interests are frequent, owing to their global
perspectives, the team that operates with the President would have sufficient
time and experience to provide all the necessary inputs and clarification.
Their deductions are generally supported by highly sophisticated technology
based decision support systems. Mock drills and simulations of possible
scenarios are an integral part of preparing the President and his team of
experts, especially in the nuclear Command and Control structure.
If the
President thereafter chooses to exploit the success of such operations during
his political campaign, it would perhaps be considered appropriate.
In direct
comparison, the Indian scene is radically different. The Prime Minister who
heads the Cabinet Committee on security has to function as a part of the
committee. Depending on the style of leadership of the individual he may or may
not assume the role of Primus interpares.
The Indian Military
is not to date structured to provide a single point advisory role to the CCS,
on operational matters, as each service head is expected to control his force
and deploy them as required by the directive of the Govt.There are no
integrated theatre commands(save the Andaman and Nicobar tri service command
and the Strategic Forces Command) and
hence tri service operations are often led by the service which has a
greater role in the execution and in some cases may even necessitate different
Operational commanders for different phases of operation. That we have managed
to deliver satisfactory results is not because the institutional mechanism was
in place but because we have so far not been tested by a relatively strong
enemy.
Quite
naturally, many political leaders who constitute the highest decision making
body on national security, may retire without being exposed to an operational
scenario. This is compounded by the fact that lessons learnt during such
operations are classified- never to be released for the benefit of the next
generation.
The Ministry of defence during war, plays a supporting role,
for, they are neither equipped nor trained to understand operations...Their
role in war is a constructive one. They are required to execute clear cut procedures contained in the War book
in support of logistics and inter Ministerial coordination The Military
Commanders are allowed to control the flow of operations without any
interference so long as the Political objectives of the operations are met. Thus
despite the lack of constant interaction between the senior Military officers
and the Political leadership, the operations are conducted as professionally as
possible, by competent military commanders who spend all their life in
preparing for operational contingencies.
What then
are the apprehensions of Politicisation of the Military in our context? Long
periods of relative peace on our borders but unusually long deployment in less
than war situations, primarily to fight insurgency, has resulted in an
undesirable environment for any Military: in particular a Military which
operates in a democratic polity. The primary role of preparing for full scale
war has had to be tweaked to cater for a never ending deployment for less than
war situations. Much has been said and written about the ill effects of using a
large forc.e to police our own territory while issues of adequate governance
and socio-economic development in the neglected areas have been ignored due to
the temporary confidence created by the Military “successes”. There have been
constant debates within the Military to contain the damage caused to the psyche
of a warrior who is exposed to aggressive containment of internal strife. What
is not discussed publicly is lost opportunity to groom young officers in simple
officership, their role in a democracy, the responsibilities of the state, the
expectations of the people of India, the need to remain secular in increasingly
polarised religious, ethnic, linguistic bodies. Above all on how to remain
apolitical. This is the grooming process
not through courses but by word of mouth of Commanding officers and Commanders
in the field. The time allotted to grooming has been completely diverted to
operations, almost from the day one begins his journey. .Is it a surprise that relatively senior
officers have begun to question the fundamentals on which the Military edifice
is built? Have we not unwittingly exposed men in Military uniform to corrupt
practises and deep rooted political intricacies that promote extra
constitutional processes?
We need to
go back to the drawing board to restructure our training to cater to the needs
of a young democracy with neither an
informed political leadership nor a bureaucracy which is capable of enabling
the interaction between the two major players.
While the imperatives
to restructure training should evolve from within the Military, the
institutional weaknesses caused by lack of integration within the Armed Forces and
between the military and the MOD can be easily addressed by merely implementing
the recommendations of many eminent committees. These reports have so far been selectively
implemented or consumed to dust.. Professionalising the decision making process
in matters security, is the most vital task confronting the Government of
India.
This article was published by Bharat defence kavach. See http://www.bharatdefencekavach.com/News/12945_POLITICISATION-OF-THE-MILITARY.html
