country". As chief of staff, Gowon was tasked by Amin to carry out another purge in the Uganda Army's upper ranks. He disempowered the heads of two intelligence services, and also moved against his long-time rival General Moses Ali. Ali was removed from his posts in April 1978, and almost killed by hitmen when he went into self-imposed exile in his home town in West Nile. He consequently blamed Gowon for these events. Although Gowon had thus risen to one of Amin's closest allies and proven to be competent in politics, he was not qualified as head of the military, and lacked training in basic strategy. In September 1978 Amin, in response to international criticisms of his regime, announced the creation of a human rights committee "charged with the duty of explaining Uganda's position abroad". Gowon was made a member of the body, though subsequent events prevented it from performing any work. The Uganda–Tanzania War, dismissal, and desertion In late 1978, tensions between Uganda and Tanzania culminated in open warfare. The exact circumstances of the conflict's outbreak remain unclear, but President Amin ordered an invasion of northwestern Tanzania on 30 October 1978. Gowon was put in charge of about 3,000 soldiers to carry out the operation which initially went well. The Tanzanian border guards were overwhelmed and the Kagera salient occupied, whereupon the Ugandan troops launched a spree of plundering, rape, and murder. Gowon joined the looting, and reportedly demoted an Ugandan captain when the latter refused to hand over a stolen tractor to him. After the Uganda Army blew up a bridge across the Kagera river, Gowon believed that he had made a Tanzanian counter-offensive impossible and thereby won the war. This turned out to be a catastrophic miscalculation, as the Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF) counter-attacked using a pontoon bridge, routing the Ugandans. Thereafter, Tanzania began preparing a counter-invasion of Uganda, but Gowon and other high-ranking commanders ignored warnings by subordinate officers about an impending Tanzanian offensive. Colonel Bernard Rwehururu in particular accused Gowon of gross incompetence, recalling an occasion when he showed the Chief of Staff a map with possible Tanzanian invasion routes. Gowon was allegedly unimpressed, and replied "What's wrong with you? You are always thinking of maps. Do you fight with maps?" Another officer stated that the Chief of Staff lied to the President about the military situation, and ignored messages by frontline commanders. Other