OK, I watched quite a bit on what's going on in Ferguson. Simple analysis is --
The police and the authorities are out on Desolation Row "off sniffing drainpipes while reciting the alphabet." (Hey, first song I wanted to learn to play was Like a Rolling Stone, HW 61 Revisited is implanted in my DNA) They're doing everything wrong. Everything. More people are going to get killed.
OK, there is a difference between riot control and combat. Big difference. In combat, you close with and destroy the enemy through fires, maneuver and close combat. In riot control, you ideally just want the people to go away and calm down. You do everything you can to not turn things into pitched battles, create grievances or escalate. Now, what I'm seeing in Ferguson as I watched the video is the use of overwhelming combat power -- relatively speaking -- against a really soft and inappropriate target.
The classic maneuver, since Hannibal at Cannae has been the double envelopment, where you lure the enemy forward, surround them, and destroy them in detail. The Schliffen plan was based on that concept. Alternatively, you can do other things, the dumbest of which is to stand off and just lob ordnance at the enemy. But, in Riot Control situations, you want the bad people to run away. In order to that you show force and then get them to run and you make it easy for them to run. This isn't the enemy, especially in this case. Who the hell is calling the shots for these morons, Dick Cheney and Tommy Franks? They better hope Jeffersonian democracy doesn't break out in Ferguson and St Louis County, because all those clowns will be out of a job and headed to jail.
The use of rubber bullets is interesting, as are the use of both tear gas and stun grenades. One of the reporters interviewed on MSNBC by Lawrence O'Donnell had been shooting live video and then started running while continuing to shoot because he was being hit in the back by rubber bullets and possibly gas canisters. Kudoes to the people working this, by the way. They aren't war correspondents, but this is pretty freaking close.
Rubber bullets are not the best non-lethal munition available, and stun grenades work in indoor situations. Outside, the flash/bang is not contained by the structure. Rubber bullets can be pretty dangerous. Especially to children, and it looks like they took this fight into a local neighborhood.
The overuse of CS2 or CS3 or whatever tear agent they're using. The big problem with using chemical weapons in vapor or aerosol form is that you can't control where it goes. You put it on target, but it will linger, go straight up in the air or just blow away depending on the wind. How long it will linger depends on the temperature situation; well, my guess is that it was relatively calm winds, with high humidity and high temperatures. The conditions would be favorable for the stuff to hang around and slowly dissipate, mainly as the aerosol in this case filters out of the air. (Tear agents are generally aerosols of a solid form, think spray glitter only smaller). So, there's a residual hazard.
(CS story, one of many I have. I used to train and teach using the crap. One time, I got it all over my boots. Brushed them off, deconned them lightly but didn't care. Wife decided to help me get ready by polishing my boots for me. Did not end well for me. She never did my boots again.)
While compared to nerve agent or white phosphorus, RC agents are pretty mild, we're not talking about a combat zone. We're talking about suburban streets in the middle of the United States. In those circumstances, the stuff is a nightmare and everytime it gets stirred up in the neighborhood, bad things will happen. People with respiratory problems, old people, young people, pets and other small animals like birds and squirrels have some risks.) Since the crap is powder, it will get in peoples' eyes and they'll rub their eyes. This can scratch the cornea and screw up the retina. Food and water contaminated can't be consumed safely unless you're a freaking honey badger.
As I look at the lines of cops standing around looking like idiots, I thought of the Colin Powell doctrine, which I still remember him articulating on national TV for the first time. You don't use American troops and resources unless you have overwhelming force, a set of clear goals, an exit plan and some level of buy-in from the people. It would suck to be one of these cops in a nearby small town or in Ferguson and have friends or family watching this display. Or have a beat in a black or Latino neighborhood. Now, I'm a fan of that doctrine and believe that ignoring it was one of the endless chain of Bush's mistakes. Technology per se don't make up elements of combat power, it can enhance it. But all the high tech gizmos and flashbangy thingees don't help if you can't bring them to bear on the target, use them properly on the right target or even figure out the target.
But, this isn't a damned invasion of enemy territory. It's not even a "Police Action..." It's crowd control following a tragic use of deadly force. Have those fools on standby; put out checkpoints and patrols with guidance to be freaking polite and friendly and helpful Cigarettes, candy, and such crap should be distributed. Since the atmosphere is so poisonous and not from the CS, this is a case of hearts and minds as much as anything. Unless they want to keep doing this...everytime something happens between the majority of the local population and the overwhelming majority of the police force. (Wanna bet the three cops that are Black on the Ferguson police force have their resumes out..."
Speaking of cops, arrest the goddamned cop. Hold him as a material witness somewhere else if they are honestly concerned about his safety. A Holiday Inn in Rolla for example. (Stayed in one 34 years ago moving to Arizona from Germany. It was nice.) Couple of guards per shift, and so on. Announce that he's under arrest and being held elsewhere for both his and the cities best interests. Oh, move the family too, if they're local residents.
The police chief keeps stomping on his dick with cleats. He whines that he doesn't want to be part of the problem, and then he handles the crowds at night in a half-assed manner, violates the constitution repeatedly, lets his idiots on the force target journalists and on and on and on. The mayor is as bad. Where the hell is the governor? Where the hell are the Senators? The congress-ctitters -- what the hell? You're a Republican trying not to look like you're one of the stupid party (although that's hopeless, i.e., Todd Akin -- at least in Missouri...), so go out talking to local people about how awful this is and how we need to find better ways. You're a Democrat and you want to get the vote out -- do the same thing. There's hay to be made here, all you political parasites! Is this crisis conflicting with their vacations? Back to school shopping?
(Note: To be fair, Governor Nixon held his first press conference on the problems and outlined a number of changes in the way things are being done that probably should have been implemented several days ago shortly after 3PM EST. Just prior to this, Al Sharpton was on Alex Wagner's show on MSNBC and he pointed out that the President had made his first statement about the case on the weekend, and had beaten the governor again after yesterday's debacle. I watched the conference on MSNBC, and the two guys who made sense were the Captain from the State Police who is now in charge of "Security" in Ferguson and the Mayor of St Louis, who for the first time didn't say that Michael Brown, the victim, had been fatally shot, not "had lost his life." To be honest, the rest of it was word salad, platitudes, and "we're looking forward, not backwards...")
Police started to riot -- because that's what happened -- because someone threw something at them. Seriously, what does that even mean? A rock, a bottle, a Molotov cocktail, a paper airplane? You take a bunch of people, get them hyped up for hours, and then turn them lose with no real restraints. You give people a lot of fun toys -- MRAPs designed for Iraq, M4 Rifles, Rubber Bullets, Stun Grenandes and Tear Gas -- and they'll look for a way to use them. What did the leaders expect to happen?
Quoting our mutual 500 pound Samoan attorney, I strongly recommend you try and get your wife to buy into moving someplace civilized like, oh, Falls Road in Belfast.
Mike
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