The quest for a professional army

I always thought that an army is a disciplined force of men. I also always thought that soldiers are trained to react in a disciplined and organised manner when faced by particular situations.

The behaviour of some of the soldiers at Safi indicates the opposite of all this. Some people are excusing the totally non-professional behaviour of these soldiers because previous to the peaceful protest some soldiers had faced provocation by the refugees. This is no excuse at all.

These soldiers should have been trained well enough not to react, even more so when there was no provocation on the day of the protest! And in view of the racist comments made by some soldiers on the fateful day, one begins to wonder who provokes who!

I would hate to think how these soldiers would react in the face of continual provocation should they be used in controlling a protest in the streets of Malta. There is no place for thugs and racists in a professional army. There is no place for violence by the state's organised forces in a civilised country.