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Text your say: Govt told to focus on fires, not war machines
Your comments on the celebration on Oct
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strong>Your comments on the celebration on Oct. 5 of Indonesia n Military's (TNI) 70th anniversary, its achievements, failures and contribution to democracy:
I would like to say only oneword on TNI's achievement:Failure.
If civilians can't fulfill their duty then the armed forces have to take over non-military roles for the sake of the country and the people.
Eduard Iseli
'Widodo wants to modernize Indonesia's primary weaponry defense system'
Let's do that! Rather than modernize the firefighting ability of the country so millions need not suffer again next year. How about you deal with flooding, fires and poverty before you spend one cent more on the golden army.
Chiko Zu
Indonesian soldiers are used to smog and extreme heat from the yearly forest fires! Wasting their billions of depreciated rupiahs to become a credible maritime force when the whole country still cannot stop slash and burn method.
If any silly enemies foolishly attack, just burn the forest, burn and burn and see who flee first, the haze toughened TNI or the imaginary foes. I cannot see any nation keen to gobble Indonesia!
Tant KT
Global Fire Power is the military version of TMZ. Their research results are based on quantity while they completely disregard quality. You can have 1,000 King Tiger tanks at the ready, but they will still get wrecked by a mere 50 Leopard 2 tanks. According to GFP, Indonesia sits on 12th, with Aussie at 13th and Singapore at 26th. Why every military articles in the Indonesian media keeps quoting GFP is way beyond my comprehension.
Mastara Arief
We should keep an eye on the Chinese as they are interested in the oil, gas and fish around Indonesia's Natuna Islands and Riau Islands and that is where Indonesia has recently deployed a significant military presence.
Eddy Saf
I think that you do have a point in that their research results are based on quantity while they completely disregard quality.
By quality that would include things like how modern and high technology the weaponry and munitions are, how trained and skilled the military personnel are, plus how much courage and willingness to fight do soldiers actually display during a firefight engagement. These things are very important and can make a big difference in any battle or war.
Personally as an Aussie I prefer to read Australia's Defense White Paper which is due to be released next month and it will outline plans for Australia's long-term defense capabilities.
ES
To develop anything, first get rid of corruption! Everything, every piece of equipment needs maintenance and that won't happen because every penny (or rupiah to be more specific) will be stolen! Imagine a 1-year-old piece of equipment that does not work .... what kind a defense capability is that?
Pauloh
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Topic of the day
Haze response
The government and relevant authorities have appeared slow to deal with haze from land and forest fires that is disrupting life at home and in neighboring countries, with schools closing and health complaints on the rise. Do you think that Indonesia should receive foreign governments' offers of help to put a lid on the problem?
Send your thoughts by email, SMS, Twitter or Facebook. Include your name and city.
