Having only recently touched on this subject, I had assumed that there would be no need to touch on it again for some time. But my interest, which had then been prompted by the comments of the Director of Intelligence and Security (DIS) regarding national defence, was once again brought into play by those made last week by the Botswana Defense Force (BDF) Commander when being interviewed by the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee.You know how it is. Something gets into our heads, an idea, or a thought which keeps nagging away despite all attempts to set it aside.
And so it has been. National defence and national security, however, are two intertwined elements of government which should not, it is maintained, be of concern to the general public. Both are the sole responsibility of specialists who should be left alone to do their jobs. Criticism or mere comment, could, it is believed, impact on those efforts. That, at least seems to be the nub of this strongly entrenched idea. With due apology, I find this very odd. If there is one topic which could sensibly be discussed by almost all levels of society it is national defence, not least because there are a great many people here who have had direct experience of major military and/or civil conflict which will have hurt them.
