
What does it mean to project this much force at home? - dredmorbius
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/magazine/la-riots-1992.html
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pluto9
> Several Marines had shot M16s into the building, we were told, at the
> request of police officers who were fired upon by a man with a shotgun while
> answering a domestic-violence call.

The details of this incident are rather famous in the Marine Corps and are
retold to the illustrate the importance of clear and standardized
communication in combat.

The police wanted to cross the street to get to the entrance of the building,
but might be fired upon as they crossed. So they told the Marines to "Cover
us". The Marines immediately laid down a hail of gunfire to the horror of the
police, who frantically called for them to stop.

Among police, "cover me" means "watch for shooters as I move and shoot back if
you see one". In the infantry, it means "lay down a constant stream of fire to
keep the enemy's heads down so they _can 't_ fire on me while I move". This is
called "suppressing fire", and it is the only thing an infantry unit will
think of if you ask them for "cover".

It's unfortunate that the article implies that the Marines were deliberately
used as a sledgehammer to provide disproportionate force, when it was actually
a simple miscommunication. That said, the military _is_ a sledgehammer. Its
tactics are intended for hard and well-armed adversaries, not rioters, which
makes incidents like this likely.

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rasz
Expected to read about this [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LozQg0oX-
Gw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LozQg0oX-Gw)

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waheoo
Paywall?

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c22
Worked for me in incognito mode with javascript disabled.

