Send In the Troops!

At The Hill DePaul philosophy prof Jason D. Hill pleads with President Trump to send troops into Chicago to create order:

President Trump, during your presidential campaign you made a promise to send federal troops to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C., and also one festering with feral thugs and gang-bangers who are committing genocide among black Americans right in the great city of Chicago.

I won’t quote you the homicide statistics, past and present, because by the time you read this they will have changed. Suffice it to say: They are horrific.

Something is terribly wrong when, in the most moral nation on earth, its third-largest city is ruled by gangs with a crime rate that is 35 percent higher than the national average.

and

I implore you to use your powers to suspend the dated Posse Comitatus Act, which unfairly limits your ability to use domestic militarization to respond to crises, and send in the resources necessary to stem the violence overrunning Chicago. Let me explain why this measure is necessary, starting with my story.

He follows with a litany of horrors. As the late Mayor Daley used to say, let’s look at the record. The homicide rate in Chicago is bad but it’s better than it was last year at this time and last year was better than the year before. Is the present rate acceptable? No! Does it merit bringing in the military? I don’t believe so.

The problem is as it has been gangs. Gun control won’t solve the problem. Most of the crimes are already perpetrated with weapons obtained illegally. More police officers won’t solve the problem. Chicago already has more cops per 100K population than other cities with much lower homicide rates. Legalizing drugs won’t solve the problem. The gangs will support themselves another way—through protection (as noted in the linked piece), gunrunning, or any of a thousand other illegal activities.

If you’re looking for collusion, look no farther than City Hall. The city government is in collusion with the gangs. In fact government at all levels has been paying them off for years under various pretexts.

If the situation warranted Gov. Rauner could send in the National Guard tomorrow without violating the Posse Comitatus Act. Why does’t he? Because it won’t help his re-election campaign and the worse that Chicago looks, the better. The cynicism of Democrats and Republicans alike is stunning. Don’t expect anything better from his Democratic opponent in November. If elected, J. B. Pritzker will treat Chicago with the same neglect his predecessors have.

What to do? Beats the heck out of me. I think that Chicago, like most Third World Countries, more than anything else needs better government. Sending in the troops won’t deliver that.