The Military: A Mission Impossible

Man for man, the Rhodesian army ranks among the world's finest fighting units. But it is hamstrung by a lack of supplies and spare parts, and, above all, by the hostility or indifference of black villagers, whose hearts and minds are the key to military success in a guerrilla war. Unless the political climate changes, the best the army can do is keep up the present level of containment. Eliminating terrorism--the basic goal of Smith's regime--will be beyond it.

Exact figures are secret, but estimates are that Rhodesia has about 5,000 regular troops, more than half of them black. The police, most of them trained for paramilitary action, number about 7,500. The majority of them are also black and apparently staunchly loyal to the government.

Perhaps the most famous Rhodesian military unit is the Selous Scouts (named for British Explorer Frederick Selous), a secret, mixed-race tracker group of about 300 men who are renowned for their ability to survive in the bush. If water is not available, they will slake their thirst by sucking moisture from the stomach of a slaughtered kudu, the graceful spiral-horned antelope. Black members of the Scouts have masqueraded as guerrillas in order to discover the political leanings of black villagers. Consequently, whenever the Salisbury government charges that innocent civilians have been tortured or murdered by guerrillas, the nationalists usually answer that any alleged atrocities were committed by "Selousies" in disguise.

The Rhodesian air force (1,300 men) makes do with a fleet of about 50 planes, many obsolete, and about 20 Alouette helicopters. Spare parts are such a luxury that when choppers are pockmarked by guerrilla small-arms fire, ground crews literally bandage damaged rotor blades with adhesive tape and send the helicopters back into the sky.

Rhodesian security also depends on an increasingly important pool of perhaps 40,000 white reservists. Now even men between 38 and 50 are liable for service in "Dad's Army," as it is jestingly known. The growing exodus of young men reluctant to fight means call-ups are becoming ever more frequent. To strengthen the forces, over 100 hardened professional soldiers, mostly British and American, have been recruited.

Since 1972, only 300 government personnel of all races have been killed, along with 100 white civilians. The black civilian toll is far higher: almost 1,400 killed, including 238 curfew breakers and 342 civilians trapped in crossfire. But as guerrilla skills improve, the kill ratio has dropped in the past year, from 11 to 1 in the government's favor to 6 to 1.

Guerrillas rarely confront the army, but concentrate on dominating the country's 6.2 million black villagers. In sensitive areas, the government has herded blacks into "protected villages" in order to cut off food supplies to the guerrillas. International organizations estimate that there are now half a million villagers obliged to live behind barbed wire from dusk to dawn. The tragedy is that the army often cannot differentiate between gunman and civilian--hence the high death rate.

The supreme commander of Ian Smith's tough but makeshift security force is Rhodesian-born, Sandhurst-trained Peter Walls, 51, a dour disciplinarian but popular with his troops. Walls' baptism of fire took place after World War II in Malaya, where he learned counterinsurgency techniques. Walls has publicly stated that there can be no military victory over the guerrillas without a political settlement that provides the country's blacks with tangible economic gains. He has also declared that he and his army are ready to "serve under any Rhodesian government"--presumably including one headed by blacks. Meanwhile, though, he is determined to hunt down the guerrillas with all the resources available to him. "My task," he says, "is to protect Rhodesians against terrorist attacks."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.