Twelve years ago, I was a full-time National Service medic when Singapore sent an SAF medical team to serve as part of a British Army field hospital during the first Gulf War.

I knew several of the men who went. Was their mission justified ?

Of course it was.

Operation Desert Storm was explicitly authorised by the United Nations and had the specific objective of liberating Kuwait.

The same cannot be said for the present US invasion of Iraq.

I therefore have grave misgivings about the prospect of Singapore sending an SAF medical team to assist in the US occupation of Iraq.

The SAF is a citizen's army. In the thirty-six years since national service was introduced in Singapore, the SAF has become part of the fabric of Singapore society.

We, national servicemen, family members and employers accept the sacrifices that have to be made, the price that has to be paid to defend our country.

But the mission of the SAF is to defend Singapore, not to participate in other people's colonial adventures.

By offering an SAF team to the Americans, the government risks destroying the legitimacy of the SAF and the strong support that Singaporeans give to the SAF.

The people of Iraq do face a genuine humanitarian crisis and there are other ways in which Singapore can help.

First, an SAF team under United Nations command would be far more acceptable than one under US command. The government should therefore support efforts to strengthen the role of the UN in post-invasion Iraq so that SAF medical teams can provide humanitarian relief under the authority of the UN.

Second, if any medical resources can be spared from dealing with the SARS crisis, the government could release civilian medical personnel to serve with international aid organisations providing humanitarian relief in Iraq.

Both of these alternatives would help to alleviate the suffering of the people of Iraq without the cost of tainting the SAF as having been part of an occupying army.