On Soldier Brutality
By Ganjiki
So soldiers from Taurama blame medical students for instigating the weekend incident (per today's papers). And they do it through a statement passed through colleagues to the press.
They would win substantial respect if the men involved on both side came out straight out and said "I did it". Don't pass a note to the press. Rock up in front of the cameras and say "this is what happened last Friday....and I'm sorry for my part in it."
Be the better man.
But regardless of what happened on Friday, what happened on Saturday and Sunday is ALL on those soldiers. And it is completely inexcusable.
Medical students didn't drag those soldiers from Taurama to 3mile. The students didn't go over and fill the truck tanks and supply the guns to the soldiers, order them into the vehicles and send them to MedSchool. That was all those rogues in uniform.
The soldiers CHOSE to do what they did on Saturday and Sunday. No one held their hand. No one invaded their dreams like in "The Inception" and plant a thought to do it (well no human being anyway). In their conscious mind they decided to go on the rampage. Those rogues did it.
[Just like they did on Manu Service Station, Malaoro Market, Aviat Club in Lae, and dare I say when they escorted Belden Namah when he stormed the Supreme Court. It was all on them.]
They cannot escape the responsibility for their actions. What they did on the weekend was instigated and incited—in the purest sense of those words—by themselves. With independent freely-functioning minds.
And the sad thing is: their superiors let them do it. And this is where PNGDF has failed. It has failed to instill true discipline in the deep crevices of the minds and hearts of these soldiers. True discipline is self-discipline—where it's neither the fear of punishment nor the anticipation of reward that makes one do the right thing. But it's the sense of self-respect and the awareness of one's own dignity that keeps him from doing anything that attracts the contempt of society.
The PNGDF has failed in ensuring that ALL its soldiers are not just adult bodies containing a toddler's stamina and mindset—a mindset that seeks its own all the time. It failed to ensure that the emotional intelligence of ALL its members was high enough to withstand the urge to go on a rampage against innocent unarmed civilians, with high-powered rifles. It failed to deny those soldiers access to firearms in peacetime. It failed miserably to ensure that it recruited, trained and maintained men who have the highest regard for their uniform, the flag, the nation, and the civilians whom they swore to protect. Any man who does not have that high regard, nor the discipline to live up to that regard, deserves not the uniform that this nation gives to him.
The PNGDF owes it to the People of PNG to ensure that ONLY respectable self-disciplined men and women occupy its ranks. It owes it to the People to expunge itself of the elements that are not worthy of its label—elements that bring disrepute and contempt to its name. Elements that seek to wear the uniform for all the wrong reasons.
This is where the true strength of PNGDF and its leaders is tested. In whether it is able to pick itself up and regain the trust of the People; or whether it continues to pay lip-service about discipline in an obviously "lack-of-discipline" force. The people need to see the line being drawn and rogue soldiers court-martialled, criminally convicted and kicked out, and the rest continuously trained and disciplined so such behavior becomes less and less probable.
Otherwise the People will be entitled to think little or nothing of the PNGDF.
Heavenise day!
GDW
By Ganjiki
So soldiers from Taurama blame medical students for instigating the weekend incident (per today's papers). And they do it through a statement passed through colleagues to the press.
They would win substantial respect if the men involved on both side came out straight out and said "I did it". Don't pass a note to the press. Rock up in front of the cameras and say "this is what happened last Friday....and I'm sorry for my part in it."
Be the better man.
But regardless of what happened on Friday, what happened on Saturday and Sunday is ALL on those soldiers. And it is completely inexcusable.
Medical students didn't drag those soldiers from Taurama to 3mile. The students didn't go over and fill the truck tanks and supply the guns to the soldiers, order them into the vehicles and send them to MedSchool. That was all those rogues in uniform.
The soldiers CHOSE to do what they did on Saturday and Sunday. No one held their hand. No one invaded their dreams like in "The Inception" and plant a thought to do it (well no human being anyway). In their conscious mind they decided to go on the rampage. Those rogues did it.
[Just like they did on Manu Service Station, Malaoro Market, Aviat Club in Lae, and dare I say when they escorted Belden Namah when he stormed the Supreme Court. It was all on them.]
They cannot escape the responsibility for their actions. What they did on the weekend was instigated and incited—in the purest sense of those words—by themselves. With independent freely-functioning minds.
And the sad thing is: their superiors let them do it. And this is where PNGDF has failed. It has failed to instill true discipline in the deep crevices of the minds and hearts of these soldiers. True discipline is self-discipline—where it's neither the fear of punishment nor the anticipation of reward that makes one do the right thing. But it's the sense of self-respect and the awareness of one's own dignity that keeps him from doing anything that attracts the contempt of society.
The PNGDF has failed in ensuring that ALL its soldiers are not just adult bodies containing a toddler's stamina and mindset—a mindset that seeks its own all the time. It failed to ensure that the emotional intelligence of ALL its members was high enough to withstand the urge to go on a rampage against innocent unarmed civilians, with high-powered rifles. It failed to deny those soldiers access to firearms in peacetime. It failed miserably to ensure that it recruited, trained and maintained men who have the highest regard for their uniform, the flag, the nation, and the civilians whom they swore to protect. Any man who does not have that high regard, nor the discipline to live up to that regard, deserves not the uniform that this nation gives to him.
The PNGDF owes it to the People of PNG to ensure that ONLY respectable self-disciplined men and women occupy its ranks. It owes it to the People to expunge itself of the elements that are not worthy of its label—elements that bring disrepute and contempt to its name. Elements that seek to wear the uniform for all the wrong reasons.
This is where the true strength of PNGDF and its leaders is tested. In whether it is able to pick itself up and regain the trust of the People; or whether it continues to pay lip-service about discipline in an obviously "lack-of-discipline" force. The people need to see the line being drawn and rogue soldiers court-martialled, criminally convicted and kicked out, and the rest continuously trained and disciplined so such behavior becomes less and less probable.
Otherwise the People will be entitled to think little or nothing of the PNGDF.
Heavenise day!
GDW
