Reservists: call-up to Ceuta in Spain raises doubts over their usefulness
Reservists sent to Ceuta? Golden early retirees, moral support and a signal to the government. Their real usefulness is in question.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Reservists and Ceuta: to serve or just to fill space?
The question has been circulating in military and civilian circles these days: if the tension on Ceuta's border requires reinforcements, why don't the military reservists go? There is no rule preventing it, but the controversy gets tangled up in something else: what on earth would they do there.
Some argue it is their duty, that the defence of Spain knows nothing about administrative status. The answer turns that argument back on itself: if it is everyone's duty, let general mobilisation begin. A more acid view sees them as golden early retirees, coffee-shop colonels incapable of anything beyond lecturing people.
What would they go for?
The practical question disarms them: what could reservists do that the police and active-duty military are not already doing? Go and watch and shout loudly? Take up a weapon, when it is unclear they even retain the right to own one? On Israel's border, it is said, they would have been met with gunfire. Here, the real mission would be something else: sending signals to the government and giving sarracena support to comrades and the locals. Which, in plain language, amounts to very little.
The reservists, meanwhile, remain at the coffee shop. To Ceuta, not even on holiday. With that level of commitment, the controversy answers itself.
The question has been circulating in military and civilian circles these days: if the tension on Ceuta's border requires reinforcements, why don't the military reservists go? There is no rule preventing it, but the controversy gets tangled up in something else: what on earth would they do there.
Some argue it is their duty, that the defence of Spain knows nothing about administrative status. The answer turns that argument back on itself: if it is everyone's duty, let general mobilisation begin. A more acid view sees them as golden early retirees, coffee-shop colonels incapable of anything beyond lecturing people.
What would they go for?
The practical question disarms them: what could reservists do that the police and active-duty military are not already doing? Go and watch and shout loudly? Take up a weapon, when it is unclear they even retain the right to own one? On Israel's border, it is said, they would have been met with gunfire. Here, the real mission would be something else: sending signals to the government and giving sarracena support to comrades and the locals. Which, in plain language, amounts to very little.
The reservists, meanwhile, remain at the coffee shop. To Ceuta, not even on holiday. With that level of commitment, the controversy answers itself.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (22 replies).
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