The Military's Role in Domestic Terrorism

Abstract

This thesis argues that civilian law enforcement is more effective than military law enforcement against domestic terrorism. It uses a case study approach to analyze government reactions to terrorism in Canada against the FLQ, and in Northern Ireland against the IRA. It concludes that the best approach to domestic terrorism is a combination of civilian and military security forces working together. Within this framework, the military should maintain a support role to the civilian police. As a result, amendment or repeal of the Posse Comitatus Act is unnecessary. As written, the law provides adequate flexibility for government leaders to deploy military troops as the need arises. Furthermore, this thesis provides lessons learned for policymakers considering the deployment of military to combat domestic terrorism.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2007
Accession Number
ADA475777

Entities

People

  • Timothy W. Thurston Ii

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Civil Rights
  • Deployment
  • Employment
  • Geography
  • Governments
  • Homeland Security
  • Lessons Learned
  • Military Science
  • Military Tactics
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Students
  • Terrorism
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies