Mr Jagne, Thank you very much for your perspectives on the military in The Gambia. I agree with you that good governance, is the key to safeguarding stable democratic institutions. At the same time, military professionalism is also important. I think that a fundamental problem for many African regimes is that once they are in power, they become complacent. As a result, because the only other strong institutions around is the military, it can easily intervene. I will keep you posted on the progress of my work. greetings, Momodou Lamin Loum. --- jagnem <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Mr Loum, this might be a too late a response to do > you any good, but i'll send > it anyway. I personally don't believe in our > country having a military, all i > know is that when we had the field force, the > country was more peaceful. On > the contrary though, not having a military will mean > that neighboring > countries become an everyday threat to the > sovereignty of the Gambia. > > I believe that the only way we can resolve these two > contrasting problems > (i.e. having a military increases the risk of coup > attempts, and not having > one threatens the nation's sovereignty) is to > educate the army enough to > realize their role in national government and state > affairs (which is to > protect and serve), and not to misuse the resources > they are empowered with. > > > Also civilian presidents should remember the reason > why people voted for them, > which was to serve the interest of society. A > holder of a public place has no > power, but those that has been accorded to him by > the public. Even if you are > not honest (which is understandable, as the human is > a greedy species), > showing little appreciation by improving the wealth > of the nation, or even > keeping it at par, only serves a leaders interest > (i.e. keeping him in power). > But our leaders tend to forget that their > leadership is not guaranteed, > rather , it depends on whether he has fulfilled the > social contract the he > agreed upon to serve the interest of the public. > > In conclusion, i would strongly suggest the > maintenance of an army in the > Gambia, but our leaders should also realize that > they need to deliver to the > people to maintain peace and stability, and by the > word deliver, i mean the > improvement of the living standards of the general > public. If government is > unable to this, it has violated the social contract, > meaning it should hand > over authority. But today, if you asked a man to > choose between power or > respect, almost always the answer will be the > former. But in any case power > is maintained if one wins the hearts of people and > the respect of society, > which is what most leaders are unaware of > (especially in 3rd world countries > today), hence the recurrence of political unrest in > these countries, Gambia > being one of them. > > I hope this makes sense to you because i realized > that i have been rambling on > the issue, let me know how you feel about the issue > yourself, and also any one > interested. Thanks for taking your time to read > this posting. > > Respectfully > Moe Jagne > Class 01 > Wabash College > > Moe Jagne > I-House > 9 Harry Freedman place > Wabash College > Crawfordsville IN 47933 > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of > postings, go to the Gambia-L > Web interface at: > http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------