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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------