Chris Roach would have us believe that more force, not less, would have prevented the death of FBI Agent Samuel Hicks who was shot by a drug dealer's wife when Hicks' team was breaking into their house to serve a warrant. The only problem is that it would have more likely resulted in the death of his wife, an equally pointless death, as the SWAT unit would have immediately gunned her down the moment she fired at them thinking they were robbers.
Ironically, for a paleoconservative, he seems to have neither any skepticism about the use of military tactics and armaments on civilians, especially in residential locations nor an understanding of what libertarians might mean if and when they talk about a natural right to deal drugs:
All of that aside, most of his argument is one big red herring to draw attention away from the fact that this raid didn't need to happen. Let me say that again. Hicks' death was literally completely unnecessary and intelligent police work would have all but guaranteed that it wouldn't happen. The cops could have easily arrested him in his front yard as he went out to work, arrested him at work or they could have just waited for him to leave and then serve the search warrant on his wife. Had they done the latter, they would have had the evidence in hand, and could have picked him up later at a time and place of their choosing. No shots fired, no one put at risk.
This is the essence of the libertarian argument. The job of the police is the exact opposite of the military. The military exists to use overwhelming force against the enemies of the nation. It does not exist to bring peace, but to use violence so thoroughly that all opposition is literally killed. The police, on the other hand, are supposed to use the least amount of force necessary to stop crime and keep the peace. Police and military are, except in cases of invasion and insurrection, mutually exclusive professions. That is a principle that we aim to protect, and that SWAT enthusiasts like Mr. Roach don't really care much about.
Finally, consider Waco. It was totally unnecessary, and a perfect example of how reality actually drives a sledgehammer through the logic of "SWAT as first resort." David Koresh could have been arrested at many occasions, but wasn't. The federal government chose, instead, to extract him by force rather than seek a peaceful solution. The end result was a scene that looked like a war zone, that was entirely preventable had the police first resorted to simply arresting him on his way to town.
Ironically, for a paleoconservative, he seems to have neither any skepticism about the use of military tactics and armaments on civilians, especially in residential locations nor an understanding of what libertarians might mean if and when they talk about a natural right to deal drugs:
The libertarians' silence on the Hicks' case as the facts have come out is noteworthy. The pro-drug-dealer libertarians of the CATO Institute make a big show of every mistaken drug raid, while ignoring the many cases of brutal drug dealer violence against police and one another. Libertarians ultimately have a maudlin view of drug dealers, whose "natural rights" to deal crack are somehow being infringed. This is of course a ridiculous position, that makes little account of the rule of law, and ends in the absurd equation of the moral status of violent, greedy drug dealers with that of sworn FBI agents enforcing our democratically enacted laws.The only conceivable natural law argument from a libertarian point of view here is to engage in peaceful, non-coercive economic transactions between buyer and seller. That's a point that real conservatives have generally agreed on without hesitation since the time of our founding fathers. There is a natural law presumption that buyer and seller have the right to peaceably carry out their transaction, and the state must make the case for why it is disallowing that. Considering the fact that many people do actually use drugs in a functional manner, the state has a huge burden in arguing that drugs inherently preset a clear and present danger to the public. They don't, anymore so than hard liquor does due to the tendency of people to drink hard liquor until they are drunk enough to be indistiguishable viz-a-vis intoxication from a drug user.
All of that aside, most of his argument is one big red herring to draw attention away from the fact that this raid didn't need to happen. Let me say that again. Hicks' death was literally completely unnecessary and intelligent police work would have all but guaranteed that it wouldn't happen. The cops could have easily arrested him in his front yard as he went out to work, arrested him at work or they could have just waited for him to leave and then serve the search warrant on his wife. Had they done the latter, they would have had the evidence in hand, and could have picked him up later at a time and place of their choosing. No shots fired, no one put at risk.
This is the essence of the libertarian argument. The job of the police is the exact opposite of the military. The military exists to use overwhelming force against the enemies of the nation. It does not exist to bring peace, but to use violence so thoroughly that all opposition is literally killed. The police, on the other hand, are supposed to use the least amount of force necessary to stop crime and keep the peace. Police and military are, except in cases of invasion and insurrection, mutually exclusive professions. That is a principle that we aim to protect, and that SWAT enthusiasts like Mr. Roach don't really care much about.
Finally, consider Waco. It was totally unnecessary, and a perfect example of how reality actually drives a sledgehammer through the logic of "SWAT as first resort." David Koresh could have been arrested at many occasions, but wasn't. The federal government chose, instead, to extract him by force rather than seek a peaceful solution. The end result was a scene that looked like a war zone, that was entirely preventable had the police first resorted to simply arresting him on his way to town.
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