World Affairs Board - View Single Post - US military's need for "constabulary forces"

ChrisF202 · 05-04-2008, 10:45 AM

Does the US military have a need for a force comparable to the French Gendarmerie, Italian Carabinieri or the Spanish Guardia Civil?

I think yes; I feel that part of the reason we had so much lawlessness after the initial invasion of Iraq and after Hurricane Katrina was that in Iraq the regular military is not really trained to handle law enforcement duties and there were not enough MPs to do everything. In Katrina the NOPD ran away and there were not enough National Guard to handle things. A constabulary force would have been perfect in both cases; capable of performing law enforcement functions but also packing quite a hefty punch for when push comes to shove.

05-04-2008, 10:45 AM	#1 (permalink)
ChrisF202 *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 08-12-03 Location: Long Island, New York, USA Posts: 2,576 Country:	US military's need for "constabulary forces" - opinions Does the US military have a need for a force comparable to the French Gendarmerie, Italian Carabinieri or the Spanish Guardia Civil? I think yes; I feel that part of the reason we had so much lawlessness after the initial invasion of Iraq and after Hurricane Katrina was that in Iraq the regular military is not really trained to handle law enforcement duties and there were not enough MPs to do everything. In Katrina the NOPD ran away and there were not enough National Guard to handle things. A constabulary force would have been perfect in both cases; capable of performing law enforcement functions but also packing quite a hefty punch for when push comes to shove.