Sure, you can probably make a case that those hard-working ICE agents are "just following orders" in LA, but even if they're victims of the system (eye roll), the people who gave them their initial orders and who keep sending them back out either know in advance or at least know by now that the protests are reactive; the violence is reactive.
If the feds were serious about stopping the protests, they'd pull those ICE agents out. Send them home or, better, to Las Vegas, and wait for the furor to die down. Come back more stealthily another day.
Instead, they've got LAPD in there running interference, and the last I heard, National Guard troops were warming up in the bullpen. I sure hope their officers didn't miss the use-of-force history lesson about Kent State. You can go on social media right now and find video of protesters tossing tear gas canisters back at the gas-masked police, and if that's just the early innings, it could get way more spicy.
And it will do so just as long as ICE and police and the National Guard keep getting sent in to poke the bear. This isn't subatomic rocket-brain physics; we know what started it. We know what's keeping it going. And you're either in there cheering on the spectacle or you're asking why the feds are still leaning on the throttle. What's in it for them? What's their endgame?
Better look close. This isn't war -- it's three-card monte.
Update
6 months ago
3 comments:
In warfare, there's the concept of the Willing Favor- where you opponent reacts in a way that makes your tactical move extra effective. The Allied move into Belgium in 1941 for instance, made the Manstein plan much more effective.
In this case, the protestors by car burning, foreign flag waving, throwing fireworks at law enforcement, et all is the sort of thing that is going to super extra help Trump and his goals. It spooks the majority of the population, and tends to give them a willingness to let him go and do things. Most people don't like thugs, and tend to dismiss their cause offhand.
There's a good reason that Gandhi & Dr. King were very adamant on non-violent protest- it works, and takes away the happy excuse that the government 'needs to restore order'. The modern protesters really should do the same.
Joe, even if there was no initial violence, Trump was itching for the opportunity to demonstrate his power. Where better than California? The state hates him, the governor all but mocks him, and "socialist" Hollywood is the enemy too. I can almost guarantee there will be violence between troops and "agitators"--one of those "false flag" events the MAGAs always rant about.
Antibubba: I doubt we'll see a "false flag" when so many different real flags are flying. There is no shortage of hotheads, and no shortage of provocation. The worst elements among the feds and protestors remember the BLM-related protests, especially the ones that diverged into wider, dumber violence. They know what they'll get if they just keep banging away.
In Indianapolis, we saw multiple, relatively-distinct strains: protesters, people who were there to get politically violent, and opportunistic looters. Local police were making no progress until; they more-or-less allied with the protestors and stole the fire from the other two groups. Some of the politically-motivated, less-peaceful stayed to carry signs, march and chant slogans; the violent and criminally inclined, deprived of cover, went elsewhere. I think the odds of that happening LA are essentially zero: it's not what ICE and the federal government behind them wants.
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