As for that RAND Study, I believe it is a mistake to assume that conventional military forces are incapable of performing Law Enforcement duties. Essentially, what our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are doing is sort of an up-armored Community Based Policing. Yes, they carry, and can call for, a heck of a lot more firepower than my father had available to him in Detroit “back in the day”, but the techniques remain the same as patrolling a beat.

Also, I highly recommend Fred Burton’s GHOST: Confessions of a Counter-Terrorism Agent (Hope the link came through all right…) Finished it last night. Very good. Very educational, even to a retired Intel Geek, who was on the preiphery of some of the things he writes about.