Tunisian armed forces: the first part, the legacy ...
30/09/2013 at 19:12 By Laurent Touchard
Laurent Touchard worked for many years on terrorism and military history. He has contributed to several books and some of his work is used by the Johns Hopkins University in the United States. This post is in two parts on the history of the Tunisian armed forces.
Carthage ... Carthage! Hannibal was born here in 247 BC. On behalf of the empire at the head of his 90,000 infantry, 12,000 cavalry and 37 elephants, he tackles the mighty Rome. To do this, it is the back side of Hispania (Spain). He crossed the Pyrenees. It runs along the coast of Gaul, not without fighting, to the foothills of the Alps. He crossed the mountains in October 218 - military feat became legendary -. When he finally reached the Po on the other side, in November 218, he has left more than 20,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry and a handful of pachidermes.
Reinforced occasional allies, he defeated the Romans in the battles of the Trebie in 218 and Lake Trasimeno in 217 won a resounding victory in Cannes (south-east of Italy) in 216. Hannibal was finally defeated in 202 at Zama (north-west of Tunisia). Defeat that marked the end of the Second Punic War. Who cares! Hannibal the Carthaginian entered the legend virtuoso tactics, one of the first great thinkers of the strategy ... For the record, David Galula, French theorist renowned anti-insurgency, was also born on the same land in 1919.
The troubled birth of the Tunisian National Army
The Carthage origin is Tunisia. Today Tunisians are distant descendants of this vast and rich empire, feared by rival Rome. If Carthage declines and disappears, troops Tunis continue to cover himself with glory in the blood and the noise of battles under the French flag in 1914-1918, in 1939-1945 and in Indochina between 1947 and 1954. Then under the national flag. On 20 March 1956 the country gained its independence. Paris team the Army National embryo. A year later, July 25, 1957, Habib Bourguiba, a major player in the emancipation took power.
Tunisian territory is then one of the shrines of the rebels that France faces in Algeria.
The climate is so deleterious to the former tutelary power: Tunisian territory is one of the shrines of the rebels that France faces in Algeria. France therefore reluctant to provide weapons to Tunis, fearing they return to insurgent National Liberation Army (NLA) Algerian. Bourguiba then opts for the growing antagonism between East and West. If the West does not have a team which form several battalions, while Bourguiba will source elsewhere Egypt, but more importantly, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia ... Bet won the United States and Britain delivering war materials.
At the same time, the French units in pursuit of Algerian rebels swept repeatedly in Tunisia, especially during the year 1958. Clashes with Tunisian military are becoming more frequent. From 18 to 23 July 1961, the bad blood. Indeed, heavy fighting broke out between the French garrison that controls the base of Bizerte and Tunisian troops reinforced poorly trained militia. Three of the best equipped and most experienced in the country battalions were deployed in Congo since July 1960 under a UN mandate ... The losses amounted to 27 killed and 128 wounded on the French side, from 632 to 5000 deaths, including many civilians, the Tunisian side. Another historical anecdote, Bechir Ben Yahmed, founder of Young Africa , is located in the city while the battle rages.
Bourguiba circumspection towards the NLA fighters - factor of instability on Tunisian soil - then the end of the war in Algeria ultimately lead to a gradual easing of tensions between the two states.
At loggerheads with Libya
Fifteen years later, the world shudders of the Cold War. In this terrible context of international tensions, Tunisia acquires weapons: F86F Sabre fighter aircraft in 1968-1969, the M48A3 tanks from 1973 ... The United States proposed to divest 16 A-4 Skyhawk, but the devices are not in good operating condition and the costs too high. They are therefore denied. These purchases are limited volume: there is more to satisfy the military as a warrior build tool that does not meet the strategic doctrine developed by President Bourguiba.
France, which belongs to the "camp" American schematically opposite to that of the Soviet Union, has become a powerful ally. Tunisia is then wedged between Algeria and Libya threatening whimsical Colonel Gaddafi. The latter offers the 1972 unification of the two countries as a single entity in 1974, and he does not appreciate the careful refusal of his neighbor. In the background is the question of the respective coastal boundary in the Gulf of Gabes, a result of oil exploration ... Tunisia's position is not easy, especially as his army is a crying face of the Libyan "Guide" inferiority. A CIA report in 1977 pointed bluntly: "Although we believe that if an incident occurs, it will be limited, the balance of power [military; NDLA] between the two countries is in favor of Libya (...). Libya also has the upper hand in the number of ground troops and armaments. "
In retaliation, Gaddafi is no shortage of supporting opposition movements Bourguiba.
In retaliation, Gaddafi is no shortage of supporting opposition movements Bourguiba. In this logic, it strongly encourages the action of a guerrilla group in Gafsa in 1980. During eleven sixty rebels loosely control the city. Eleven hours during which the military shows little reactive, struggling to deploy sufficient forces to defeat the well-armed insurgents. To accelerate the implementation of the Tunisian system, Paris sends C160 Transall. Tunis will then have no transport aircraft. Some argue that the GIGN gendarmes boarded the Transall to advise the Tunisians, as in the hostage-taking of Mecca, Saudi Arabia in November 1979. However, so far no official information is confirmed. Anyway, the Tunisian military, in number, supported by the National Guard finally eradicate the rebels. Several disappear and have never been seen since ...
During all these years of crisis with Libya, the army also performs the policing alongside the police in 1978 and 1984 (the "bread riots"). However, not being trained for this type of mission, it is guilty of excessive use of force against civilians. In 1984 up to 143 people are killed (balance established by Young Africa at the time) ... On the other hand, it fails to prevent or at least hinder the Israeli air raid on the headquarters of the PLO, 1 October 1985: its air defense is inexperienced with limited equipment.
Doctrine of "calculated weakness" to the Tunisian army
From a doctrinal point of view, the Tunisian armed forces are part of the principle of "total defense", conceptualized by Bourguiba. This doctrine is based on five points:
- Economic development is the first guarantee of the security of the country. A country whose economy is healthy, strong, in the rank of nations.
- Lack of human and material resources (high budget would change anyway not much to power relations Algeria / Tunisia or Libya / Tunisia too unfavorable) Tunisian forces do not have the ability to deter an opponent and still less than if he were to defeat the attack.
- Diplomacy therefore plays a key role: it gives Tunisia benefit from strong international support.
- The power must accept favorable alliances that arise. In fact, Bourguiba does not neglect to show solidarity in principle with the Arab countries during the two Arab-Israeli wars of 1973 and 1967, with quotas that do not also fight, while remaining close to the United States , France, Great Britain, Italy ... The diverse origins of the material of the Tunisian army demonstrated.
- If a war occurs, the conjunction of the previous points associated with the cohesion between the army and the people should allow the country to hold up the Allied response.
Ben Ali, who seized power so cozy in November 1987 retains the doctrine of Bourguiba.
There is clearly a mix of realpolitik and doctrine of people's war. This doctrine, apply the Chinese forces in the 1950s and 1960s. Thereafter, it is "fitted" to meet the challenges of nuclear weapons Ben Bella , before taking power Boumedienne, the wish for Algeria . It implies the existence of an army withdrawal from politics. Handy feature for a head of state who is wary. Its calculated weakness thus preventing de facto threaten it. To further protect its pre-square against the ambitions of his generals, Bourguiba organizes services omnipotent internal security. The National Guard is itself equipped with armored assets. The president and protects a new attempt to overthrow after the December 1962. Orchestrated by political opponents, it also involves many officers that tastes just the head of the Tunisian government.
Ben Ali, who seized power so cozy in November 1987 maintains this doctrine. It simply ensures that the army is not in misery, that it has sufficient funds to ensure the satisfaction of career military to properly train conscripts. But not enough to "make" general heavily armed credits. Bourguiba and Ben Ali so opt for an alternative to the choice of Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak in Egypt, Qaddafi in Libya, Hafez al-Assad in Syria. Differences partly explain the attitudes of the military in these countries during the "Arab Spring", within a few decades more.
