It could all turn ugly.Which, as ever in Thai politics, raises the question of the army's likely stance.
Shirreff said the question of whether the army being more dependent on reservists would work or not has been left unanswered, but he said it was "one hell of a risk".
It does, however, raise the question of why the army refused to use emergency powers last year to eject the PAD from Bangkok's main airport arguably a graver security threat than a rabble at a roundabout.The same double standard applies to the protest organisers.
The question of why the army has failed to mount an offensive in the remaining redoubt of North Waziristan is highly controversial.
Morin explains that one of the key conversations among the students involved the question of desertion from the army, but that this couldn't be put in the film, which might have caused it to be banned and might also have gotten the students arrested.
The question of Mr. Torricelli's army of party foot soldiers brought up the question of money, but only Bill Pascoe, who is running the campaign of Douglas Forrester, a largely self-funding businessman, was forthcoming: "Mr. Forrester has spent more than a million so far," Mr. Pascoe wrote in the online exchange, "and has another $2 million on hand".
Addressing the question of whether a citizen army is to be preferred to a mercenary one, he insists that the liberty of a state is contingent upon the military preparedness of its subjects.
The controversy centred on the question of the guilt or innocence of army captain Alfred Dreyfus, who had been convicted of treason for allegedly selling military secrets to the Germans in December 1894.
Mr Peña Nieto, for instance, eludes the question of whether he would withdraw army troops who are policing some cities.
These two problems alone raise the question of whether an all-volunteer army is the best way to defend the nation.
