The political elites of the military come from the same ranks as those for corrupt other areas of life. Soldiers in the armed forces, in any interaction outsid

The political elites of the military come from the same ranks as those for corrupt other areas of life. Soldiers in the armed forces, in any interaction outside of it, face corruption every day: semi-official bribe lists with local police forces, bribes for administrative procedures, medical and so on. In corrupt societies, it is hard to opt out of bribery since “market” forces balance out on the assumption that bribe giver can finance them partially through bribe taking. Cutting one leg off the trade makes it fail. I think it’s naive to believe you can build an island of meritocracy surrounded from all sides by a corrupt system.