Note for RGC (Ministry of Defence)

Note for RGC (Ministry of Defence):

Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Note by MP

As a foot soldier, you don't want to learn of your commanding officer's or your general's corrupt practices, and likewise as a citizen you don't want to live in a hut gazing at your rulers' opulent palaces. And no, evicting the impoverished subject is not the solution!

Cambodian soldiers still in flip-flop while fighting in Oddar Meanchey

This episode - armed aggression by Thailand - reiterates yet again Cambodia's need to upgrade its defence capability.

I accept that for the first time since independence from France, Cambodia has the ability to defend itself to a limited extent, and providing the clashes are confined to one or two localities, containing or neutralising invading forces does not call for massive defensive resources.

But this calculation - especially in light of limited national budget - can be dangerously misleading. It's not just about the 1:15 or 1:10 ratio in terms of what the defending side and the invading one require respectively to upset the odds. The Vietnamese deployed 200,000 troops, backed up with aerial sorties, to overwhelm KR forces of about 70 - 80,000 men -many of whom had been hastily recruited after the 1970-5 war and had no previous combat experience - but the vast disparity here owed perhaps to the strategic-political need of the Vietnamese to spread military presence over an entire country's territory with the threat of prolonged guerrilla campaign in mind.

As long as Cambodia continues to rely on outsiders to do battle for her and/or take excessive, false security in formal safety nets provided by political and diplomatic alliances - from Treaty with Vietnam to ties with Asean, the UN etc. - her de facto political freedom and independence will always continue to elude her.

The Vietnamese have learned from their national humiliation at the hand of the Chinese in the past. Their estimated 1m strong conventional forces and heavy investment in military hardware reflects their hard-nosed realism in this regard. From their bruising encounter with Vietnam in 1979, the Chinese will think twice before considering 'teaching' Hanoi another lesson. Yet the threat from the Chinese is still there, and Hanoi knows this.

War can be painful in reality, but it has been a feature of human civilisation since the dawn of history, and is unlikely to go away any time soon for good.

Until Cambodians are certain that their supposed friends and neighbours have their (Cambodian) people's interests at heart or love the Cambodian nation more than they do their own, then be prepared to face up to this necessary evil.

The constant threats posed by Cambodia's two neighbours; the geographic position occupied by her in between them, and the resolve to meet these threats and actual aggression (testified by the current border war) could ironically work to the country's long term benefit. For example, to build up the military (say increase well trained combatants to around 200,000 to 300,000 or more in proportion to projected population expansion within the next 10-15 years or so) finances have to be in place. Yet this resource (money) is unlikely to be conjured out of thin air. Therefore, a wave of cleaning up campaign and structural reform are paramount; and there is no need to use this pretext of national security to bulldoze civil liberty or infringe on human rights. As a foot soldier, you don't want to learn of your commanding officer's or your general's corrupt practices, and likewise as a citizen you don't want to live in a hut gazing at your rulers' opulent palaces. And no, evicting the impoverished subject is not the solution!