Aaron1124 wrote:
smoking357 wrote:
Aaron1124 wrote:
smoking357 wrote:
Aaron1124 wrote:
BUT, the Military's primary mission has nothing to do with maintaining order in a city or town.
Evidently, you've never heard of Iraq or Afghanistan.
The way they maintain order is much different than how the police are trained to maintain order.
Correct. And...?
My point is that the police are specifically trained to maintain order in a domestic environment. Although the military is trained, they are trained in a different way, and it isn't their primary responsibility. The only reason why I see the need for a Martial Law is a lack of civilian police in a certain area and the need for additional man power. Hell, most special units of the police force are all ex military.. not to mention FBIs Hostage Rescue Team, which are very elite trained operatives. With enough of them, I don't see why they wouldn't be able to maintain order in a state of emergency.
You've changed the discussion. You started by asking how martial law works; now you're trying to argue how a martial law
could work. It's this simple: whatever the commanding officer wants, he gets. Martial law is the opposite of civilian law. Civilians are all the People and the offices of government, save the military. If the military assumes governance, all that civilian stuff is of no moment. The military does not need to abide by the Constitution or to return to rule under it, at any point.
By way of example, when the Governor calls out the National Guard to keep order, that's not martial law, as the Governor still has control over the Guard. When the National Guard General stops taking the Governor's orders and orders the Governor confined to quarters, you've got martial law. If the civilian authorities want to wrest control back from the military, it won't happen with votes, but with bullets.
Throughout history, military rule has been seen as preferable to civilian rule, and vice versa. Martial law sits very well with those Americans who live in places where, for lack of a better correlation, the Baptist Church has a significant presence. With many Americans finding peace to be cowardice and being consummate authority-lovers, it's very likely that when America collapses, parts of it, likely the South, will be ruled by Generals. If these Generals allow elections, it is likely that the elected Governor will share power with the military.
Other areas of the country, where, again, for lack of a better correlation, the prevailing religions are Catholicism, Judaism, Lutheranism, environmentalism or atheism, will deeply resist military rule and will likely have a short-lived military head or may never be ruled by military power.