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Geggy · #1

This guy got my vote! Seriously, though, this smells like martial law to me.

A Surge on the Homefront?
August 01, 2008 12:48 PM

ABC News' David Wright reports: Answering a question at the Urban League about his approach to combating crime, John McCain suggested that military strategies currently employed by US troops in Iraq could be applied to high crime neighborhoods here in the US.*

McCain at first praised the crime-fighting efforts of Rudolph Giuliani when he was mayor of New York City.* Then he down-shifted into an approach that sounded considerably harsher.*

McCain called them tactics "somewhat like we use in the military."

"You go into neighborhoods, you clamp down, you provide a secure environment for the people that live there, and you make sure that the known criminals are kept under control," he said.* "And you provide them with a stable environment and then they cooperate with law enforcement."

The way he described it, his approach sounded an awful lot like the surge.

Urban League president Marc Morial countered that while New York did experience a drop in crime under Giuliani, there were several major instances of police misconduct.

In response, McCain promised aggressive prosecution of civil rights violations and a Justice Department free from political cronyism.

"U.S. attorneys will be appointed strictly on the basis of qualifications and not political connections," McCain said, a swipe at the Bush Administration Justice Department under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

ABC News' Bret Hovell contributed to this report.

Tadao · #2

I never bother reading 2 sentence quotes, it's equal to watching FOX news.

Chojin · #3

I'm all for nuking our inner city, personally, so McCain is a little too soft for me.

Dr. Boogie · #4

You know, it's been a long while since I last saw someone drinking Surge.

El Blanco · #5

Its not an invasion if you are a;ready there. He doesn't say send the military in. He says have civilian police forces use some of the same tactics and strategies.

Not only are you deaf, but you seem selectively blind as well.

Dimnos · #6

I dont think Geggy ever said it would be the military. Just that it would be a "military-style invasion". And if they are send cops IN with this "military-style" plan, you could lossely call it an invasion. But if you have a cop on every corner with automatic weapons, who is going to try anything really? If it can work in New York it can work anywhere.

Colonel Flagg · #7

Quote:

Originally Posted by El Blanco

Its not an invasion if you are a[l]ready there. He doesn't say send the military in. He says have civilian police forces use some of the same tactics and strategies.

Nothing new here - in the mid '70's, Phildelphia mayor Frank Rizzo went on record as stating that the way to win the "non-war" with the Sandanistas in Nicaragua was to send in the Philly Police Department - they'd straighten everything out.

I miss "Chairman Frank". He was always good for a malapropism or three. It's really too bad he's dead - he'd make a great Vice-Presidential choice for McCain.

El Blanco · #8

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimnos

I dont think Geggy ever said it would be the military. Just that it would be a "military-style invasion". And if they are send cops IN with this "military-style" plan, you could lossely call it an invasion. But if you have a cop on every corner with automatic weapons, who is going to try anything really? If it can work in New York it can work anywhere.

We don't have police officers on every street corner with automatic weapons. We never did. Kind of expensive. Also, it makes the tourists a little edgy (sissies)

Not that I agree with using MOUT tactics in American cities, but Douchey McNohear is trying to obfuscate things with some slight of hand.

Dimnos · #9

Ok mybe not on every corner, but when i was there back in '05 there were alot.

El Blanco · #10

If you were somewhere like Times Square on a holiday weekend when we expect a lot of tourists and there's an opportunity for someone with ill will to make a lot of trouble, ya the NYPD has the Emergency Services Unit guys in the heavy gear with MP5s.