Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community  

Go Back   Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community > Chatter > General Discussion


 
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 06-18-2004, 06:16 AM   #1 (permalink)
Addict
 
Location: Canada
question about a military term I heard in 24

In Season 2, episode 18, there is a scene of a meeting with the president, joint cheif of staff(bald actor, Mike) and various other military people. The president states he wants the U.S Army to be on standby to control panic, but Mike says they can't do that. The president says its because of something he says in Latin. I assume this is a legal thing forbidding the Army to do that. Mike even states that the proper people to do this is the Navy or the Marines. Why is that?

In a state of national panic (ie violence, looting, riots) why wouldn't the Army be called upon to not do this?
__________________
Legalize it.
Shokan is offline  
Old 06-18-2004, 06:22 AM   #2 (permalink)
Junkie
 
Location: NJ
The Posse Comitatus Act does not allow the US military to be deployed domestically as a police force (except in limited circumstances). I believe the Act specifically names the Army and Air Force but does not specify the Navy and the Marine Corps. So, the argument could be made that they are not governed by this Act.
__________________
Strive to be more curious than ignorant.
onetime2 is offline  
Old 06-18-2004, 06:42 AM   #3 (permalink)
will always be an Alyson Hanniganite
 
Bill O'Rights's Avatar
 
Location: In the dust of the archives
Exactly. One of those limited circumstances is the "loan" of Military Working Dogs, and thier handlers, for search and recovery missions.
__________________
"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B. Anthony

"Hedonism with rules isn't hedonism at all, it's the Republican party." - JumpinJesus

It is indisputable that true beauty lies within...but a nice rack sure doesn't hurt.
Bill O'Rights is offline  
Old 06-18-2004, 07:00 AM   #4 (permalink)
Addict
 
Location: Canada
What would be the reason for this Act?

edit - Here is a detailed desciption I found

Posse Comitatus Act
Source: G-OPL

"POSSE COMITATUS ACT" (18 USC 1385): A Reconstruction Era criminal law proscribing use of Army (later, Air Force) to "execute the laws" except where expressly authorized by Constitution or Congress. Limit on use of military for civilian law enforcement also applies to Navy by regulation. Dec '81 additional laws were enacted (codified 10 USC 371-78) clarifying permissible military assistance to civilian law enforcement agencies--including the Coast Guard--especially in combating drug smuggling into the United States. Posse Comitatus clarifications emphasize supportive and technical assistance (e.g., use of facilities, vessels, aircraft, intelligence, tech aid, surveillance, etc.) while generally prohibiting direct participation of DoD personnel in law enforcement (e.g., search, seizure, and arrests). For example, Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachments (LEDETS) serve aboard Navy vessels and perform the actual boardings of interdicted suspect drug smuggling vessels and, if needed, arrest their crews). Positive results have been realized especially from Navy ship/aircraft involvement.


Source - http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/comrel/f...Comitatus.html
__________________
Legalize it.
Shokan is offline  
Old 06-18-2004, 07:04 AM   #5 (permalink)
Junkie
 
Location: NJ
Quote:
Originally posted by Shokan
What would be the reason for this Act?
Several I suspect. One being that the deployment of military forces is pretty fearsome. Tanks, helicopters, transports, and, of course, the soldiers/sailors/marines moving swiftly in coordination can be pretty overwhelming. It's not an exaggeration that it in itself could cause panic among civilians not used to it.

Additionally it makes it more difficult for civilian government leaders to use military force to put down protests, uprisings, etc. Letting the military loose generally means things will be broken and people will be killed. Not exactly what you want to see happening on your street.
__________________
Strive to be more curious than ignorant.
onetime2 is offline  
Old 06-18-2004, 07:45 AM   #6 (permalink)
Junkie
 
Location: Sydney, Australia
It reminds be of another interesting quirk of the US system of Governmental checks and balances - that the people charged with the President's personal protection (the secret service) are a division of the Department of the Treasury rather than State, Justice or Defence.

Anyway, I've noticed that both 24 and the West Wing pay entertaining attention to detail when it comes to this kind of thing.
Macheath is offline  
Old 06-18-2004, 08:23 AM   #7 (permalink)
BFG Builder
 
Location: University of Maryland
There are a bunch of very good reasons, the biggest one being that the purpose of the armed forces is to defend our country, not police it. I think the movie The Siege actually did a pretty reasonable job of showing of what would happen if the Army were to engage in law enforcement. Police are trained to deal with criminals, soldiers are trained to deal with other soldiers.
__________________
If ignorance is bliss, you must be having an orgasm.
DelayedReaction is offline  
Old 06-18-2004, 08:45 AM   #8 (permalink)
Darth Papa
 
ratbastid's Avatar
 
Location: Yonder
Using the military as an internal police force is one hallmark of despotic and dictatorial regimes around the world. Think about how widely feared the Iraqi National Guard was by Iraqis.

Posse Comitatus prevents those sorts of abuses by US leaders.
ratbastid is offline  
Old 06-18-2004, 09:31 AM   #9 (permalink)
Junkie
 
Yes. We don't need the military.

After all we have the DEA, the BATF, and the ever loved SS, er, I meant HS (Homeland Security) forces.

As long as abusive and despotic has been mentioned, what arfe your general thoughts on the Patriot Act II features being stuffed into "must pass" legislation?
__________________
+++++++++++Boom!
tropple is offline  
Old 06-18-2004, 09:35 AM   #10 (permalink)
Insane
 
Location: Vermont
For the Secret Service thing, it's because they started out as(and still are also) money cops. I.E. the stop counterfiters and stuff.
RAGEAngel9 is offline  
Old 06-18-2004, 11:03 AM   #11 (permalink)
MXL
Tilted
 
Location: Maryland
The Park police are responsible for the Presidential motorcades and other VIP motorcades. Why? Because the Park police are the only police force who have national jurisdiction.
MXL is offline  
Old 06-18-2004, 11:26 AM   #12 (permalink)
Wehret Den Anfängen!
 
Location: Ontario, Canada
In the end it is about checks and balances.

The President has direct military control over the DoD. This law was intended to mean that before the President can use the DoD to enforce his will, he'd have to get specific congressional permission.

It places a line far away from despotism that the President isn't allowed to cross. This makes it harder for the President to creep up to despotism in small steps.

Practically, as noted above, the Army isn't a very good police force. They are trained to kill people, not protect people.

As with most checks and balances, there are holes all through it. Newer military corps aren't included. Dispite the fact that checks and balances leak, their existance seemed to have kept the USA from falling into a complete despotism.
__________________
Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.
Yakk is offline  
 

Tags
heard, military, question, term


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 02:35 AM.

Tilted Forum Project

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2
© 2002-2012 Tilted Forum Project

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360