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Gambian
Gambia
7 Posts |
 Posted - 21 Mar 2006 : 03:00:23
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I have been thinking about the situation in the Gambia lately, my thought is: (should small country like Gambia have a standing army?)
I have not seen many positive factors contributed by the Gambia Army.
The government is spending millions of dollars to arm the military, I think that money could be use in developing the infastructure of poor Gambia. The money that is being pumped into the military can be use to improve the current condition of the ancient Gambian Highway. Many Gambian hospitals have no medicine and many hard working Gambian have no health care. Many schools have no basic necessities like chalks. Gambians are generally peaceful people and if all of their basic needs are meet, we do'nt have to worry about uprising or war.
Gambia surrounded by peaceful Senegal, we should not worry about other countries invading us and the international commuinties will not let Senegal invade us. So do we really need an army that is armed to the teeth, can't we come up with a better alternative? Millions of dollars are spend on weapons while people are going to bed hungry and sick.
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kassma
334 Posts |
Posted - 21 Mar 2006 : 03:50:37
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| off course we don't an armed army standing arounding doing nothing. however, when the president's main source of power comes from the fact he has the army in control, then, the army is here to stay. |
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twinkly
United Kingdom
190 Posts |
Posted - 21 Mar 2006 : 12:03:01
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Gambian
As long as there is a military government, weapons will be power.
It seems to me that Gambia has a military force simply to protect its own government.If they didn't have such a present army, the people might get strange ideas and try to rebel against the gov.
It is sad to see that the military threatens and hassles people, but it simply shows that the government feels insecure.In Europe we never see military forces out on the street, and they definitely don't hassle people, standing at the road with guns.
The police should be doing many things that are done by the military, the military should simply be there to DEFEND THE COUNTRY FROM OUTSIDERS, not to discipline its own people.
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taalibeh
Gambia
336 Posts |
Posted - 21 Mar 2006 : 20:03:59
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Yes, I think we need an army. What we need to see is the training programme of the army to be rigorously reviewed and developed further to include lectures about the constitution, respect for human rights, respect for the rule of law and their responsibility to defend the constitution and not the president in isolation.
The reason why the army do not properly know their function and responsibility is because they are not taught about it. All they are taught is to be aggresive and ildiscipline towards the civilian population. They could be easily manipulated by their superiors because they do not know that they are to defend the nation against external eggression and not one individual or a group of individuals at the expense of the rest of the population. |
Taalibeh |
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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 21 Mar 2006 : 20:16:48
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Personally i dont think we need a standing army milking away funds doing nothing. They should engage in road maintenace etc atleast during peace times. Our only agressor is Senegal and honestly we cannot stand them militarily. Besides i do not see that happening.
Gambia was more peaceful without an army. yaya Ceesay was known to object to the setting up an army after the attempetd coup by "taxi Drivers" in 1981 headed by Kukoi. He warned against it.
I am sure some people could remeber walking through statehouse to the market. No one cared about violence those days and seeing the president or some other people on the grounds. Today it is a fortress a sign of our times.
If soldiers can shoot 10 innocent school children to death, then they have seized to be of use. They are doing police duties and the police are busy lining pockets in the traffic with the taxi drivers. |
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” |
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kassma
334 Posts |
Posted - 21 Mar 2006 : 21:38:26
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quote:
Originally posted by taalibeh
Yes, I think we need an army. What we need to see is the training programme of the army to be rigorously reviewed and developed further to include lectures about the constitution, respect for human rights, respect for the rule of law and their responsibility to defend the constitution and not the president in isolation.
The reason why the army do not properly know their function and responsibility is because they are not taught about it. All they are taught is to be aggresive and ildiscipline towards the civilian population. They could be easily manipulated by their superiors because they do not know that they are to defend the nation against external eggression and not one individual or a group of individuals at the expense of the rest of the population.
that's too simply, any soldier knows that harassing cilivians is not right, its not like they were born unruly soldiers. no they were raised up like everybody else. the thing is they know they can do whatever they want cause the president has no issue with it. we do not need a large standing army doing absolutely nothing but harassing people and creating problems. the army needs to be reduced along with the spending. there are people in Gambia hungry, no food, kids can't go to school and all the government cares about is that army that defends it. |
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