pics via Sławomir Ruszkowski picasso album
If you're like me and you're a bit alarmed at the militarization of the police then I think I can point you in the direction of the why.
I've been Googling like crazy to find a quote from the President Bush Jr where he stated that he wanted full government participation in the wars. I distinctly remember him saying so. This was in keeping with the Rumsfeld doctrine of having a smaller military...one that did not duplicate functions performed by other federal agencies.
This led to several federal law enforcement agencies gearing up and sending teams to the war zone to do missions that once would have been performed by old fashioned "Light Infantry" or Military Police units.
DEA FAST Teams are the perfect example of this. Read about them here. But suffice it to say that they model themselves after SEAL Teams to include a Trident on their patch....
Its hard to criticize the guys. They're operating in a war zone and need to be equipped to survive AND achieve their mission.
I AM CRITICIZING THE FORMER PRESIDENT. He made another ill conceived decision that is having ramifications far beyond his limited view. Obama isn't to blame for this trend. It lays at the feet of the former President and his efforts to fight a war on the cheap.
Make no mistake about it. Other federal law enforcement agencies have teams down range. US Marshals? Definitely. A similarly equipped special ops type group. ICE? Yep. The same. FBI? ATF? The other alphabet soup agencies? You betcha.
So I have my answer and while it doesn't make me happy and doesn't point toward a solution it does at least give me a starting point for when this all started.
If you're like me and you're a bit alarmed at the militarization of the police then I think I can point you in the direction of the why.
I've been Googling like crazy to find a quote from the President Bush Jr where he stated that he wanted full government participation in the wars. I distinctly remember him saying so. This was in keeping with the Rumsfeld doctrine of having a smaller military...one that did not duplicate functions performed by other federal agencies.
This led to several federal law enforcement agencies gearing up and sending teams to the war zone to do missions that once would have been performed by old fashioned "Light Infantry" or Military Police units.
DEA FAST Teams are the perfect example of this. Read about them here. But suffice it to say that they model themselves after SEAL Teams to include a Trident on their patch....
Its hard to criticize the guys. They're operating in a war zone and need to be equipped to survive AND achieve their mission.
I AM CRITICIZING THE FORMER PRESIDENT. He made another ill conceived decision that is having ramifications far beyond his limited view. Obama isn't to blame for this trend. It lays at the feet of the former President and his efforts to fight a war on the cheap.
Make no mistake about it. Other federal law enforcement agencies have teams down range. US Marshals? Definitely. A similarly equipped special ops type group. ICE? Yep. The same. FBI? ATF? The other alphabet soup agencies? You betcha.
So I have my answer and while it doesn't make me happy and doesn't point toward a solution it does at least give me a starting point for when this all started.
