The military and the nation's future

The military and the nation's future

From Media Indonesia

The idea of handing over the administration to the military,
in the event of bringing about fast-tracked changes, is not a
popular one. The Indonesian Military (TNI) is really at a
crossroads. A little less cautious, and they will be really
jeopardized. And the people (eventually) will become the garbage
bin of the rioters, who are represented by leftists with a
perennial mask of human rights.

It will be a situation of the military being between Scylla
and Charybdis. Either way they will have to bear the brunt.
Actually, our military has a history that we should feel proud
of, a fact that has also won international recognition.
Indonesia's independence would not have been proclaimed if our
soldiers had not been deeply rooted in society. The Indonesian
military comes from the people and should also act in the
interest of the people. It should not benefit certain quarters,
for example, the government.

The portrait of the Indonesian military is the gloomy face of
our nation. Like it or not, the military's sorrow is also the
people's. When the military breaks apart, so will the nation. We
will be a nation sans dignity if our military becomes like a
paralyzed scabby cat simply because of the action of a handful of
immoral people. We will burst into anger to see our soldiers only
wail over their fate in their barracks.

We agree this country should not be left to the TNI. There are
quite a lot of people who deserve to be leaders. Marginalizing
the TNI, let alone eliminating the military, is a careless act
which will put the future of our nation at stake.

BAMBANG HENDARDI

Depok, West Java