Keeping with history but also keeping with modern forms of
control, the military has always played a role in controlling populaces.
Let's go over how they have been used.
Genocide: One that typically comes to mind is
genocide. Used by the Romans, the Nazi's and even today by various
African tribes, the military have been used to wipe out resistance or target
populations throughout history. During the Rwandan Genocide the Hutu's
wiped out a large portion of the Tutsi population partly in support by the
militia consisting of the Hutu majority. In Russia, a protocol of
extermination was used during the Cold War to wipe out undesirables in the
Ukrainian region and the population replaced by ethnic Russians. All done
with the support of the military.
Fear: The military has also been used as a replacement or
as part of the police force. They become instruments of intimidation and
fear as the military is used to suppress dissidents like in China, in Tiananmen
Square. In other cases they use them as blunt instruments of oppression by
brutalizing members of the local populace by destroying their homes or just
ransacking them.
Suppression: Other times the targets of the military
are simply assassinated of dissidents, suppression of demonstrations and even
propaganda campaigns. A leader can use them like tools to kill anyone
they desire. Think of Kim Jung Un and his regime in North Korea as he
keeps the population under his direct control where if they smile wrong they
can be shot. The military even runs the prisons where dissidents are
kept.
Conclusion: A military in the hands of a mad
man, or if out of control can force a population suitably unarmed to do whatever
it pleases. This is the nightmare that countries around the world face from secret
police, or showy military dictatorships. If not controlled and
constrained in a similar manner to how the United States has with its civilian
control apparatus, then we may just face a serious threat from those who would
use the military to force people from their land, or to make them silent to the
abuses they suffer.
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