When a debate in parliament took place, to effectively fool people again both by the Govt. and Opposition to imply that troop numbers are all that matter, the media SHOULD HAVE POINTED OUT THE FALLACY
When the whole world is reducing the strength of their forces and that includes the US, UK, China Russia and India, and going hi tec, we in Sri Lanka are debating the issue of whether to reduce the strength of the Forces or not.
Of course it is a no brainer that we should have a more agile fighting force, which could be deployed immediately if trouble arises. Mobile Camps are the answer and is a well known form of security which it seems only Sri Lanka does not know about!
So let us leave the defence of the nation to the forces, to present their requests for the future security and for a proper independent analysis of its need, rather than be determined by people with personal agendas.
We are paying Rs50BN a year just to feed the forces. That is simply unacceptable. So if you downsize by a quarter, If I had just a quarter of that to get ONE good brigade to be deployed whenever trouble occurs, that is better, while getting rid of excess bodies that is a quarter of the force in a five year period.
So why is the media not pointing this out? The fact is the forces are NOT nimble as there are too many structures that serve no purpose, other than just give people title and nothing else.
What do we want? Security of the land. How do you get it? Reduce the number and beef up the logistics using the latest technology. As Sri Lanka is a small country, we can get any amount of troops from one place to another in a matter of a few hours, by land sea or air.
What we don't have is the equipment to move them quickly and that is the need of the hour and not the bodies. the bodies are needed to run the economy, not sit around pissing in their boots. So redirect the personnel to civilian essentials not covered and use the money saved to getting transportation items to ensure we can fight any battle, big or small within an hour of it breaking out, where ever it maybe. Who is going to argue with that?
The present 250+ Army Camps don't even have bullets that work to last one hour of battle, so why even have them? We are only putting our soldiers in harm's way.
So who do we blame for that? the Civilian Government not acquiescing to forces commanders needs. So who are the traitors? Everyone of the people who are warming their seats in Parliament? Not one person not even Field Marshal SF has pointed this terrible state of affairs.
My thoughts exactly
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a government capable of running this Country. This one or any previous ones. Diyawanna is therefore more trouble than help, so it is better to get rid of the Govt for a year or two and show the people how they will benefit from the money saved.
We may finally ensure the security of the nation once the leeches have been eliminated
Media please inform your readers that having too many soldiers in the 21st Century is actually bad for the security. Only traitors increase the troop strength.
ReplyDeleteIt is the shortage of reliable equipment and the speed of deployment that matters. Ask any trained soldier and he will tell you what is needed.
Our forces are pathetically equipped and to hide this fact we are playing the numbers game to fool the people.
Ironically if they are released to Civilian life, and the Private Sector and the economy grow the Govt will have more funds to buy the equipment to defend the nation. No one has any common sense and in this case the least of all the media who as the fourth estate must do their duty to ensure the security of the nation.