Dear Editor,
Mr Aubrey Retemyer, a former soldier, takes Dr Roger Luncheon to task because “Dr Luncheon also questioned the political-military relationship which has been in existence from the nation’s independence up to now.” In a letter published in SN of December 31, titled ‘Soldiers should remain professionals’ he writes that, “The soldier is not and would not be a slave to political dogma nor is he/she driven by the avarice and excessive greed which seems to characterize the PPP.” Mr Retemyer then seeks to remind the Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) that “when all is said and done, if activities in that [New River Triangle] region should develop at a rapid pace and it becomes a lawless frontier, it would be the ordinary poor soldiers who would be required to correct the mistakes of this incompetent cabinet.”
Not yet done, the former soldier also says, “It should be stated here that the professional soldier’s abiding interest is the safety and security of the state.” He then advises the HPS that, “He should not try to distort the civilian-military relationship in this country.” Is he aware that civilian authority always directs its military?
Why is he so incensed at Guyana’s elected civilian leadership? Mr Retemyer is very bothered and tells us that Dr Luncheon’s “spin on this whole arrangement in my opinion is disingenuous and extremely troubling. Like a true PPP spin doctor, he once again attempted to confuse and bamboozle the Guyanese public and even the international community with the idea that the military is becoming too assertive. His whole line of argument amounts to a load of nonsense. For decades now, every soldier and especially the officer corps of the Guyana Defence Force knows how sensitive that area is.”
Mr Retemyer’s tirade can only underscore the urgency for racial balance of the armed forces
Many have, like Madiba, moved on having shed the inhumanities imposed by their oppressors. Does he speak for himself or for all in Guyana’s armed forces? In fact Mr Retemeyer writes: “As a former soldier, I spent many days and nights in that hostile but yet pristine environment. Many men and women of my generation were prepared to protect this country, and provide stability for its development.”
In a democratic country where civilian authority always outranks any military Mr Retemyer is yet to recognize the foolishness and absurdity when he then bombastically tells the HPS: “My advice to Dr Luncheon is to simply let professional soldiers remain professionals.”
Unable to separate the difference between the civilian democratic mandate acquired by governing authority he substitutes his confusion to be policy by advice. So while he is correct that “Most democratic countries around the world do rely on the advice of their military on a whole range of issues,” he is out of his league to incorrectly claim “including national policy or national development.” That is the prerogative of the civilian government fully empowered to solicit it, or not, as an option, not as a requirement. Mr Retemyer’s ambiguities couldn’t be more obvious. Unlike PNC-aligned former Police Commissioner Winston Felix, now an MP who has freedom of speech to make policy, Mr Retemyer has not come out of the political closet. He too can make his advice policy if the PNC leader’s military rank means nothing to him as well.
For Mr Retemyer to chastise the HPS because some are “not and would not be a slave to political dogma nor … behave like robots” says more about who remains mentally shackled but even more so about how misguided he is in asserting that military discipline makes “robots.” Were the GDF unrobotic during the rigging of elections, or at the time of Dr Walter Rodney’s assassination under the PNC ?
Prophetic or not Mr Rretemyer’s reflection that: “I have often contended that in years to come when Guyanese in another dispensation can look back with some clarity of thought they will arrive at some unpleasant conclusions. There will also be a list of persons whose behaviour would have done a disservice to this country.” That was last year wasn’t it? Today begins a new future for Guyana if Madiba means anything. Happy New Year! Peace and happiness to all.
Yours faithfully,
Sultan Mohamed
