Independent thinking is not encouraged in a professional Army. It is a form of mutiny. Obedience is the supreme virtue.
I will forever be thankful to the Malawians and international community, and my professional army and army general, who said: 'No, we will follow the constitution.' That's why I'm here.
I'm against the draft. I believe we should have a professional military; it might be smaller, but it would be more effective.
When you start to look at completing the development of a modern professional army, when you talk about maturing a democracy, when you talk about development and the economic conditions that have to be addressed, a decade is not too short a period of time to talk about.
I am not one of those who believe that a great standing army is the means of maintaining peace, because if you build up a great profession those who form parts of it want to exercise their profession.
The U.S. spent billions of dollars to build a secular, professional national Iraqi army but failed because, despite all the U.S.-supplied guns, tanks and planes, the Iraqi military fell apart when challenged by a band of terrorists.
Nothing ... ought to more guarded against in a free state than making the military power ... a body too distinct from the people.
I have a lot of friends who served in the regular army for a long time. Quite a few of my friends from that time went on to become full-time soldiers. But you live in a world that is entirely army. Your whole world is pretty much that military service, and it's very hard to do other things and to break out of that environment.
