Tasks only the military can do...or possible not?

chewy

this thought crossed my mind during the whole tsunami aftermath and the subsequent movements of military in the area...

there seemed to be alot of people saying only the military can do this only miltary can do that, and further that only the US has the Military capacity to do deal with things (which may be true in terms of capacity).

in terms of natural/disasters, the immediate response rescue teams seem to be crucial to saving lives, who is it that usually makes up most of those teams? firemen, police, army, TA, mountain rescue, and others with appropriate skills???

of course what the army has going for it is man power, hardware and logistics and it be hard to say no to that, you see them helping out when places flood in England and Ireland too... but in alot of other places they may bring help but they also being weapons...

who else would do it, most countries have civil defense... aid agenies can bring together humaritaian relief without the military.

now when you talk about places like Sudan I wouldn't blame people for going in armed but then again aid agencies work there don't they? and infact the US military is now hampering aid agencies afforts by blurring the lines between aid and military actions....in places like Afghanistan

my point is , that we shouldn't be so quick to say only the military can sovles this?

SkepticOne

Is there a point here? In your opinion, should they not have been used or do you think that, despite possible problems with using the military, overall their use was justified?

You seem to be making two contradictory points.

bonkey

chewy wrote:

my point is , that we shouldn't be so quick to say only the military can sovles this?

Aren't you blurring the line, somewhat between "only the military can do this" and "only the military could do this".

Theoretically, it would be possible to set up alternatives - but there is no-one able to provide an alternative today.

jc

Moriarty

The military is useful for aid/relief operations because 1) it's under the direct control of government 2) it has logistics support for heavy and bulky cargo 3) it has vast man power reserves 4) it's well disciplined 5) it's there anyway.

mycroft

Y'know chewy you're running a record for inane thread creation.

Do you not grasp that the miltary are the only organisation that has the logistics for moving manpower heavy equipment field hosipitals to deal with wounded,

Now

t we shouldn't be so quick to say only the military can sovles this?

Now you talk about TA and rescue workers, but the military are the only group that has the sustained logistical capability to do this.

Seriously what the hell are you on about?