REPOSTED from 22 August 2019, updated:
I recently got a genuinely nice review from a reader regarding GMJ 49, Code Name July 27. In the review on Amazon, the reader says: “In this book the author once again returns to the subject of covert and special forces operations in Sub Saharan Africa, the new counter-terror battleground where he is an expert. And he again asserts that his own nation, South Africa, has one of the world's finest Special Forces Units. I wonder how his readers react to that. Does the American reader dismiss that claim as mere baseless boasting and say they surely can't be better than the SEALs? Will the Briton dismiss that statement with his own patriotic defense of the SAS? And I ask myself if our rush to judgment is a simple dismissal of anything African being of lesser quality. If so, that would be latent racism.”
The answer, in short, is that I found mostly white South Africans flatly refusing to believe anything good of the new South African National Defence Force (SANDF). They just don’t want to know anything else. Sadly, their views are almost exclusively based upon racist ideas. No matter what facts & statistics you mention as a counterargument they just will not believe it. In reverse, I found many black South Africans enjoying the GMJ books and especially those from the Zulu Nation thanking me for honoring their traditions through the character Captain Geelslang Peter Ndebele (the characters are based upon real people, all of them). A recurring character, Mike Delta 38, a colored man (mixed race in South African terminology), receives a lot of inquiries. I describe this fellow in many books since he plays an important role:
“He spoke Afrikaans with the characteristic accent of a colored man and he had to work miracles to get to his commissioned rank. Like Geelslang more than twenty years before, he had to fight every inch of the way in the new South Africa where he is generally considered to be too ‘white’ to be ‘black.’ In the old days, he would have been too ‘black’ to be white and so it is. Some pigs are more equal in the new dispensation than others.”
In Code Name Bella Dawn, a book on South African Right-Wing Terrorism, his background is established:
“Mike Delta Three Eight!” She called his name and he answered politely.
“Yes, Madame?”
“What do we call a platoon in South African Army Parachute Battalions? You were a platoon commander in the Pathfinders before you made Special Forces Selection were you not? After you graduated first in your class at the Military Academy down at Saldanha. The failure rate at your Selection was 98%?”
He answered proudly if a bit bemused. “Yes, Madame. I graduated first in my class at the Military Academy eight years ago. I had the highest academic scores in the history of the place. I then asked for the honor to join the Parabats (the elite South African Army Paratroopers, aka “Bats”), made their selection (30% won’t), joined the Pathfinders, made selection again (70% won’t), and now I am here, a platoon commander in South African Army Special Forces, after yet another selection, this one taking a year to pass as did all my men here. Indeed, only 3 of us made it from the 140 who tried and they tried hard, they were good men (98% failure rate). I was the only commissioned officer left after two weeks and took command. To answer your question, we call a platoon in the Parabats a ‘Valk’ Madame, not a platoon.”
Valk, Afrikaans, Falcon, unique to the South African Paratroopers, the first trick question they always ask to lift the Walter Mittys, and then they ask when, who was your platoon commander, who was the company commander, who was the RSM, and so forth. They have endless walls of shame on fakers and wannabees claiming their maroon beret illegally. The Parabats are seen as an elite infantry unit as are most paratroopers worldwide, but they are in no way Special Forces. (Taken from Code Name Bella Dawn.)
My point was that South African Army Special Forces are mostly black men, always were in history and always will be in the future (the major difference with the Rhodesian SAS) and the men are there on merits only. One of the first orders given by the late Nelson Mandela when he became president was to never relax the standards in South African Army Special Forces and so it was. They are as good today as then except that they have much better equipment. As I explained in almost every book, over a 40-year history, 100,000 men tried out for South African Army Special Forces, 481 made it. They know each other and it is a useless exercise to pretend to be one of them - you will be shamed after being caught out.
I also made the point that they are the best inside their theatre which is an important caveat, I was very specific on that with a reason but where they worked as contractors after leaving the service, right across the world, they did as well as ever. Because of the high standards, never less than a 90% failure rate, I made some comparisons which irked a few readers, I am sure. I stated that the acknowledged average failure rate of the British SAS, US Green Berets, and French Army Special Forces Selection is about 64%. The US Navy SEALs are at 80% failure rates and thus if you put 10 SA men on a forced march against 10 of the rest mentioned above then logically all 10 SA men will be at the end post whilst the British SAS, US Green Berets, and French Army Special Forces will be reduced by almost 40% and the SEALs by 20%. That is what happens when you lower your standards, somewhere down the line the lad will be unable to keep up and become a risk to his mates, the worst possible scenario to all involved. It is better to have fewer men and keep your standards than to lower them.
A little-known fact is that the South Africans & Rhodesians increased their standards after qualifying originally in the British SAS Regiment, they considered the SAS to be low standards. These men ought to be respected. They have all the usual Special Forces skills and then the crucial factors, local knowledge, local language abilities, and an absolute tradition of winning at any cost payable by the enemy. Okay, so that is the South African viewpoint. Let me say again, if white, sad to say, mostly negative (but not always, let me stress that too, many are very supportive). It would be nice for me personally if we could move on and judge solely on merit. Finding positive books on the SANDF is rather hard as they suck at PR and don’t see it as important. They have no pre-insight into these books whatsoever, no one but myself does.
The international viewpoint is one of shock and disbelief as well as an outright dismissal of the warnings contained in my books. But even this has a caveat. That is the first reaction and based upon nothing else than a lack of knowledge and almost religious patriotism to their own forces. Those that bother to research what I say, and there are many, frequently agree with me when my facts check out. There are also those that learn something in our history and traditions by reading my books. Once they realize I am not deliberately insulting their national honor but pointing out serious problems in the hope that they rectify them, they become concerned enough to take good note. I am grateful for such readers. Many became good friends, and my life is better because of them. Some pointed out mistakes or different views and where they have merit, I will make the changes. The idea behind the GMJ Books is to educate through stories which is the best way to remember what you read.
As a strict rule I never publicly comment on reviews because it is a road to perdition which no author wants to walk. It is a one-way street to nothing but anger and annoyance. You will not believe the shenanigans that authors are subjected to behind the scenes. Not a week passes without an email of someone wanting to write a review for a small fee – I refuse, that is dishonesty in motion to me. I don’t buy reviews, never. Then you get those that threaten bad reviews if not paid to write a good review – yes, blackmail. I refuse and let them be damned and they do take revenge. Then you read a review which is noticeably from someone that never read the book or if he did, could not understand it, and thus he becomes insulting or nit-picking showing his own insecurities without even realizing it or them. Such is life, we have to live with them too and the easiest way is not to be bothered. My feeling is that if you have something to say then contact me and let us talk. I don’t get this elitism crap from authors as if they are something special. It is not hard to write a book and takes less than 3 weeks for me to write a GMJ novel. Sometimes, like with the latest GMJ, OATH OF EVIL - The War on Protestantism, 5 days for the initial draft. But know that there are hundreds of pages of research behind each. Where a character or I say something historic or political, be assured it is based upon researchable facts. Where dots are linked, it is facts in motion.
I don’t write to please anyone but my conscience. My books are meant to educate, they are written like that, to save life and to advise in this theatre, the new counterterrorism battleground to where the militants fled. I cannot, this is frustrating to me, force anyone to read my books and if I could have, I would not have done so anyway but I can express the hope that they give my readers as much pleasure and knowledge as I had writing them. More than that I cannot do, it is not in my hands. Where they are suppressed by mainstream, which is often, I feel good, I know I am onto something if they have to go to such extremes. Yet, I also wonder how many will die because of the lack of knowledge, that is the sad part. Yes, because my warnings became reality:
Following is from a December 2020 BBC article to be found at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55147863. According to the Global Terrorism Index published on 25 November, the “centre of gravity” for the Islamic State group IS has moved away from the Middle East to Africa and to some extent South Asia, with total deaths by IS in sub-Saharan Africa up by 67% over last year. “The expansion of ISIS affiliates into sub-Saharan Africa led to a surge in terrorism in many countries in the region,” reports the Global Terrorism Index. “Seven of the 10 countries with the largest increase in terrorism were in sub-Saharan Africa: Burkina Faso, Mozambique, DRC, Mali, Niger, Cameroon and Ethiopia.”
We saw how Mozambique, Palma, exploded in the last month with people beheaded, extreme war crimes committed and more. I wonder when people will start listening to me, GMJ.
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I would recommend you to also read the new GMJ book, OATH OF EVIL - The War on Protestantism, where a lot more is revealed, i.e. that the USA is a hijacked country taken over by the Papacy - as predicted in the Bible. We are seeing it playing off right in front of us. A complimentary electronic copy of the 700-page book is available at the bottom of the home page of this website. You need to subscribe to receive it in either EPub or Mobi format. You can unsubscribe later. It is a gift from me. Please read it and spread the word.
* All 51 GMJ books deal with modern military subjects like espionage, counterterrorism, military strategy, military history, and exposing mainstream media lies/propaganda. The GMJ books are a delight for lovers of military history with content to be found outside the schoolbook-approved histories. What is revealed in the GMJ books is shocking to the uninitiated. Prepare to find out the true state of affairs that no mainstream outlet will publish. If you wish to read about Covert and Special Forces Operations in sub-Saharan Africa, the new battleground where the radicals are to be found, the GMJ Books are the place to start. You will learn about covert operations, Special Forces techniques, and military history not known outside the select few.
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