To the cries of pain that have recently risen from the military world, the political leaders have reacted with an ill-concealed sense of tolerance that resulted in a provocative question: "but where were these generals when they were on duty?" Before unveiling a secret of Pulcinella that fits the topic, it should be remembered that in the past, in the past, the military leaders did not lack critical voices, if not explicit dissent; think of Vittorio Santini, Pietro Corsini, Luigi Federici and Goffredo Canino.
At a more modest level even those who write during the course of their career, from lieutenant to general, have criticized institutional leaders, pounding the press (Il Giornale, Il Mattino, Il Corriere della Sera, La Stampa, The Unione Sarda, La Voce and La Nuova Sardegna) with a large number of articles and letters.
Reactions? None ... or almost.
How to explain it? Here is the secret of Pulcinella: the political recipient of the critic of military source pretends (or perhaps finds it more convenient) not to notice if someone sings outside the choir. Let me clarify with an example: the 8 and the 20 May 1991 "The newspaper of Naples" and "Il Mattino" published in succession a script in which the chief of staff of the school Armored Troops, Colonel Nicolò Manca, made a criticism on the verge of insubordination against military policy (Cossiga, Andreotti and Rognoni were in charge) and, even more seriously, the written one sounded like a sarcastic counter-agenda against the one with which the Army Chief of Staff had exalted the participation of the Italian armed forces (participation that I instead ridiculed) to the famous Gulf War.
So I concluded my thought: "That said, my pride in being part of the Italian Army begins to blame, after 31 years of uniform, very hard blows; and if I had to affirm that I am thinking of being able to become a general in this army already rich in colonels and generals, I would be lying ". Since I was in evaluation, spitting in that dish was an unacceptable provocation; but yet there was no reaction, not even a disciplinary measure. Better to ignore it and simply postpone my eventual promotion to general.
Another example: the 26 December of that same year on "Il Tempo" I said again my defense problems, disputing the journalist Andrea Barbato and the minister Rognoni on some paradoxical aspects concerning military salaries. Reactions: none, neither on that occasion nor every time I criticized, black and white, both the work of the ministers in office and the chronic silence of the Presidents of the Republic-Supreme Commanders of the Armed Forces in terms of national defense.
The last piece written by the military in service ("La Nuova Sardegna" of 21 June 1997) as well as being critical of the Minister of Defense Andreatta (whom I had not appreciated who had agreed to cancel 206 billions of lire from the Defense budget for subsidize those political parties that the Italians had decided with a plebiscitary referendum not to want to forage any more) was an attack without rebates to the political world, to which I contested in particular the proposal to dissolve the "Folgore" brigade for some trainings following the mission in Somalia. So I concluded my last military service attack: "I am fed up with this latest campaign against the Armed Forces, as well as this policy and these politicians ... And to summarize in a single word my judgment on how many by vocation condemn the Folgore and the Armed Forces a priori, I can only refer back to what General Cambronne said at Waterloo, the 18 June 1815: Merde! "
There was a reaction this time, but only by the green Manconi and the legendary Bertinotti who commented: "A general who speaks in this way must first be put in jail." I did not end up in jail ... but there was no more talk of dissolving the "Thunderbolt."
Once the uniform was discarded, in the 2001 I collected my experience as a soldier “in search of an army” in a book and in the meantime I let the waters settle until 1 June 2018, when the defense ministry was entrusted to a representative of the 5 Movement Stars . Prophetically I sensed that my "search for an army" from that moment on would have turned out to be "in vain" so that, having included this adjective in the title of the book published 17 years before and updated with an update chapter, I became masochistically stuck in a limited reissue of my work, already decorated in 2001 with the "Florin d'Oro fiction" award
What interested me was to launch an appeal to the new political leaders so that they would not deceive by diverting elsewhere the already poor defense budget (which had already plundered 500 million euros in good time), pretending to ignore the chronic delays and the serious shortcomings of the military apparatus , the urgency of re-evaluating the salaries of the volunteers as well as ensuring the turnover of the operating personnel in old age. To this end I sent a copy of the book to the ministerial office in Via XX Settembre and made sure that the military press review reported the review of my work.
Reactions? None, as always.
Minister Trenta's commitment remained concentrated on the dual use of the army: from the "safe roads" mission to the control of Roma camps, the asphalting of Roman roads, the creation of a military union, the reduction of chaplains, assistance to overweight military personnel and similar measures of epochal importance. Moreover, he did not neglect to spread the image of the Armed Forces (but not of weapons but of peace) operating in the name of peace & love and a new "inclusion" ... which never hurts, regardless.
The only justification that I hypothesize for this lack of reaction to criticism of military origin is that the institutional leaders are surrounded by collaborators who worry that dissenting voices will be amplified in the press reviews and annoy the ears of the political leaders of the defense. If this were the case, the collaborators in question would in fact be collaborators, more sensitive to the dictates of the party to which the minister belongs than to the interests of the military institution.
But in attending the 2 June fashion show in Via dei Fori Imperiali, I finally pushed these suspicions out of my mind and felt satisfied to live in the Italy I dreamed of, ruled by a political class at the height of the times, and to celebrate in common ideals and intentions with the Roma, Sinti and illegal immigrants the values of our Republic, our culture, our civilization, our Christian traditions and, why not, our Armed Forces and "my" Brigade " Sassari ”, which I have noted with satisfaction not having been excluded from the event.
General Nicolò Manca (former commander of the Sassari Brigade)
PS I think that, all things considered, it is good that the generals do not express their criticisms of the media, because, with the air pulling, if they did, all the newspapers should at least sacrifice the pages dedicated to sport and crosswords.
Photo: Ministry of Defense
