Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
Yup, what people don't realize is the concept of peacekeeping and police actions really run counter to what a soldier is trained to do.
In the simplest words and thanks to J.L Granatstein soldiers are trained to kill people and blow stuff up. They're trained to enforce the will of the government and to an extension the peoples wills on enemies whether foreign or domestic, in a violent and assertive manner, whether in a offensive or defensive capacity.
Using soldiers to stand in a line and look menacing is a waste of materials, its a job for Law enforcement not a infantry man.
If you want a soldier to take down a barracade his first instinct is to shoot the hell out of it, call in artillary, then use the engineers to blow the debris off of the road.
If you want to call in a soldier to intimidate a unruly mob, then your calling in the wrong guy, a soldier would conceal himself try to find the leader and kill him, then roll up the rest of the mob.
Sure soldiers have been used for mob control before, but it never works out well.
Soldiers will proudly help out during a natural disaster, it makes them a good citizen and you can't shoot a hurricane.
Soldiers will lay out their lives to save your life . . . as long as your not a threat.
But using soldiers as cops, or peace makers and taking away the tools that make soldiers effective is the wrong use for good material.
|
You have a pretty romantic view of soldiers that I reject. A soldier's primary mission in fact is to stand in a line and look menacing. Most armies in the world have a primary function of defence/deterrence. Having them literally stand in a line and look menacing is a natural extension of their figurative role.