The New Man Who Said No

Last Monday, August 8^th, les pouvoirs behind the curtain in Tunisia anointed a new hero of the January 14^th revolution. A press conference was held with little notice by a man named Samir Tarhouni, a lieutenant colonel in the Tunisian security forces and head of the Antiterrorism Brigade (BAT). Tarhouni related his story of the fateful day of Ben Ali’s departure and revealed that it was he who independently decided to disobey the order to use live ammunition against protesters.

Lt. Colonel Samir Tarhouni

His minute-by-minute account is ready-made for national myth. Not only did he decide on his own initiative to protect the protesters from live fire by refusing a direct order from above, he also ordered a small brigade to the Tunis-Carthage airport when he learned that members of the Ben Ali and Trabelsi families were trying to flee the country with 23 years of embezzled national treasure. When Ali Seriati, head of the President’s personal security forces, asked him on what authority he was arresting these rich and powerful figures, Tarhouni replied that his orders came from God. He even enlisted the help of his wife, who worked in the control tower of the airport, to prevent the plane from leaving.

Alone, the press conference is a great story. Back up, and an interesting picture emerges.

In the immediate aftermath of the ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, it became common knowledge that General Rachid Ammar, head of the army, was the man who refused the order to use live ammunition against protesters. On February 7th, the magazine Jeune Afrique ran an article titled “Le général Ammar, l’homme qui a dit non” (“General Ammar, the man who said no”).

General Ammar himself spoke little in public, and when he did, he affirmed the army’s support for the constitution and deference to the interim government. As Ammar shunned a spotlight that could have been flattering, it appeared that the military was, admirably, trying to stay out of the way as a shaky interim government emerged.

The story stood until July 17^th, when blogger Yassine Ayari released a video statement on Facebook that in fact, the myth of General Ammar as the Man Who Said No was his fabrication. The military never received any orders about live ammunition, explained Ayari, so he fabricated the dramatic story and sent it to Nawaat.org prior to January 14^th as an attack on the floundering Ben Ali regime. Nawaat.org lauded General Ammar in articles on  January 15th and 17th, and Jeune Afrique followed up in February.

Ayari’s July video received some attention in Tunisian social media and less in traditional media, but even among bloggers, few believed his statement. Shortly after his video, at a community iftar for social mediaites, Ayari found that his nametag read, “The Man Who Said No” – a lighthearted jab at his credibility.

Then Tarhouni jumped into the scene, saying he was the man who countermanded the order to fire on protesters.

Tarhouni’s minute-by-minute account of the airport arrests seems to be true. Photographs from the Tunis-Carthage Airport support him, and the details match up with stories told at private dinner parties around Tunis.

But his appearance asks more questions than it answers. Whether or not Tarhouni ever received and declined an order to use live ammunition is hard to verify, and either way, we now have two Men Who Said No, no official explanation for the discrepancy, and a little-heeded blogger claiming to have fabricated the first.

Asked why he waited so long to tell his story, Tarhouni replied that professional confidentiality demanded silence, and besides, he has been very busy since the revolution. Now, as the trials of the arrested Ben Ali and Trabelsi family members begin seeing verdicts, he wanted to clear up rumors about the famous day of their arrest.

These reasons may even be true, but it is doubtful that he kept his silence or broke his silence without guidance from above. We are left wondering who it was behind the curtain that organized his press conference. Further, we must ask what role General Ammar has been playing for seven months. Did les pouvoirs allow the story of General Ammar as the Man Who Said No to spread, knowing it was false, just because it was useful? And if so, why are they now pulling a new national hero out of the deck?

Tunisians are currently up in arms over the interim government’s failure to pursue proper justice against ex-regime figures of corruption, and it is easy to read Tarhouni’s press conference as a quick effort to pacify people with a new story of anti-corruption heroics.

But it is worrying that les pouvoirs continue to treat the press as children, expecting them to print today’s truth without noting discrepancies with yesterday’s truth, answering gentle challenges to the official story with obvious lies like “We’ve been very busy.”

It is maybe even more worrying that the press responds like children and does little to investigate the new claims or point out the glaring gaps in the official story. As far as I know, no paper has even sent a reporter to the Tunis-Carthage Airport to confirm that Tarhouni’s wife worked there in January. After glowing headlines on Tuesday morning re-printed Tarhouni’s minute-by-minute account, the press fell silent on the whole affair. The name of General Ammar was mentioned only in passing.

It is plausible that Ammar was useful for a while as the Man Who Said No, and Monday was as good a time as any to correct the record, especially as the Ben Ali and Trabelsi trials go forward. There may be nothing more significant here than a gross lack of transparency.

But anointing Tarhouni as the new Man Who Said No hands him political capital, should he choose to exercise it. General Ammar, when he held the title, chose not to exercise its potential. Tarhouni may choose the same, but he is certainly someone to watch in the months ahead. If Lieutenant Colonel Tarhouni makes further public appearances, then we must wonder if les pouvoirs have decided to groom him for a more public role in Tunisian politics.