Customer Reviews

The American Experience with Police in Peace Operations

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--The reviewer is a peace operations analyst in Washington DC--

Mr. Perito's book is a must read if you would like to better understand why U.S. marines stood by on the streets of Baghdad and watched looting, but did nothing to stop it, during the first days after the war. That is because, folks, it has happened before. Many times.

This is not a criticism of the American military, by the way. U.S. soldiers are highly skilled and trained, and do a great job at what they are trained to do. The problem is twofold. Soldiers are not trained to be cops. And, military commanders hate getting involved in what they call non-war tasks.

This book reviews the American experience with police in peace operations. In terms of policing, the U.S. has been heavily involved in the expansion of civilian police functions during peace operations over the past decade, so this is a useful book just from the informational standpoint. But, as Iraq shows, there is a clear need for addressing post-conflict security after a military intervention, or in the first stages of a peace operation, which in many ways is much the same thing.

This is an important public policy question that poses serious consequences for national security. Because there is no U.S. or international capacity to really do international civilian policing, the military gets stuck with the job. They don't want the job, but they end up with it. Each time, though, it happens after looting and general lawlessness occur. This book also paints a good picture of what the needs are for post-conflict civilian policing, and sketches out what sorts of policy options might help alleviate the capacity gap. It shows why soldiers don't make good cops, and points to all the lessons that should have been learned from past experiences.

When the Pentagon says it was surprised by the looting, after reading this book, you will wonder...why were you surprised? Looting and lawlessness happened after every U.S. military intervention during the past two decades. Why would Iraq be different?