Editorial: Purchase of Tanks Defies Military Logic
We have reason to question the logic behind the purchase of 103 Leopard tanks and 50 Marder tanks from Germany after former President B.J. Habibie, known as an authority on German technology, criticized it.
The tanks are costing taxpayers $280 million. Habibie blasted the government for buying tanks he says are suitable for deserts, not for a
maritime country such as Indonesia.
"Use your brain. It's useless equipment," he told the military and legislators.
But it's not that these state officials don't have brains. It's because the purchase incurs fees worth millions of dollars. That's why they insisted on buying "useless" tanks at the expense of the nation.
Time and again we are witnessing state officials sacrificing the people they are supposed to serve and protect in order to enrich themselves. With that kind of money, hundreds of schools, hospitals and dams could be built. Millions of people could have gone to school and millions of farmers could have bought fertilizers or watered their farms.
Or the money could have been used for boosting the livelihood of soldiers, or providing saving for their children's future.
Most Indonesian military officers and police generals have become very rich over the years as they rose through the ranks. There is also no question that legislators have been living in
luxury beyond imagination while people who vote for them probably still don't know where their next meal would come from.
We call on our military and political leaders to listen to their conscience, and start working for the people they are supposed to serve. Greed will only breed greed, and nobody can get enough once they fall into the trap of corruption
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