The Militarization of Italy

The Italian Prime Minister, Mario Monti, has pointed out that there’s a plan on the table to deploy the military to the streets. The goal? To push back against the increasingly violent protests targeting the current Government and its economic policies.
According to Deutsche Welle, Mario Monti also ramped up security readiness at key locations across Italy yesterday after a wave of violent demonstrations hit the country.

The Republic reports that the Supreme Commander of the Italian Armed Forces, Claudio Graziano, stated: "The military is more than ready to support the police in maintaining our nation's security." The report also mentions that the Ministry of the Interior is planning to defend about 400 critical sites from potential "terrorists."

Now that Prime Minister Mario Monti and the Italian Minister of the Interior have openly shared their plans for how the military will guard roughly 400 government offices—specifically tax collection centers—we're seeing fresh reports today about deploying troops onto the streets of Italy. In Genoa, a city in northwest Italy with about 600,000 people, local elections are being held this Sunday. Authorities are worried about "political violence," so they are once again turning directly to the military for assistance. 🤣🤣

Totally unnecessary and honestly, a bit idiotic.
The guy is already a pariah just because he’s a banker and wasn't elected by the voters.
This is only going to tank his popularity even further.

Look, fear tends to magnify everything. It’s not like people are blind to what’s going down in Greece or how much Spain is struggling right now.

And don't go making jokes about Genoa; there's a very real reason people freak out when large-scale political protests hit that city. Anyone with half a brain who remembers the G8 summit in Genoa back in 2001 knows the score—dozens were injured, and a 23-year-old protester was killed by a police officer's shot. You have highly organized groups just waiting for payday, and they don't take excessive police force lightly. That includes the anarchist Black Bloc crowds that pulled all sorts of stunts during the Italian version of Occupy Wall Street, ranging from random vandalism to full-on arson.

As for Monti, he isn't exactly a most-hated figure (yet), his popularity is just cratering. When he first stepped up, everyone knew exactly who he was: a Goldman Sachs man through and through. Everyone knew he was the darling of the EU oligarchy, yet somehow, there was this weird consensus to welcome him as a savior—from the right wing to the left wing, even the Italian public. That consensus? Yeah, it’s pretty much dead and gone now.

Seriously, would the military actually open fire just because they were ordered to?
There’s a massive difference between fighting in a distant war zone like Iraq and being told to turn guns on people in your own hometown. Even in places like Romania, the troops didn't just start shooting at their own citizens; it was only the most radical snipers, and those guys were cleared off the rooftops pretty fast.

I really hope the bankers stay out of this. Seeing what happened in Italy was infuriating enough, so I can only imagine how much worse things get for the Italians when they get involved.

More or less everywhere, this is where we're headed—military presence on our streets is the future... globalization isn't exactly winning any popularity contests, yet it's something that still has to be enforced.

rowdyowl said:Seriously, would the military actually open fire just because they were ordered to?
There’s a massive difference between fighting in a distant war zone like Iraq and being told to turn guns on people in your own hometown. Even in places like Romania, the troops didn't just start shooting at their own citizens; it was only the most radical snipers, and those guys were cleared off the rooftops pretty fast.

I really hope the bankers stay out of this. Seeing what happened in Italy was infuriating enough, so I can only imagine how much worse things get for the Italians when they get involved.

Well, what do you think? 🤷

I really hope the bankers don't swoop in on this. Seeing how things went down in Italy left me pretty pissed off, so I can only imagine what it's going to be like for the Italians.

Look, bankers don't give a damn about anyone else, and frankly, very few governments are actually going to sit back and let violent protests tear up their streets.

And I’m telling you again: Genoa is going to remain a powder keg for a long, long time.

If these protesters actually think they can win anything by getting aggressive, they’re even more clueless than I thought. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if the Government planted some agitators just to spark street violence—it gives them the perfect excuse to deploy the police under the guise of "protecting citizens" and basically crush any attempt to take down this undemocratic administration.
The Italian government isn't pulling any punches either, labeling the protesters as terrorists, which pretty much tells you exactly how they plan to handle them.

That's exactly how European journalists used to spin things whenever China was in the headlines, and now we're seeing history repeat itself right on our doorstep 🙂

Richard James2 said:Well, what do you think? 🤷

I really hope the bankers don't swoop in on this. Seeing how things went down in Italy left me pretty pissed off, so I can only imagine what it's going to be like for the Italians.

Look, bankers don't give a damn about anyone else, and frankly, very few governments are actually going to sit back and let violent protests tear up their streets.

And I’m telling you again: Genoa is going to remain a powder keg for a long, long time.

Even under a totally insane totalitarian regime like Ceaușescu's Romania, they didn't just open fire on everyone. It was only those ultra-specialized units, and they were cleared off the rooftops pretty fast.

Soldiers almost never shoot at their own people.

rowdyowl said:Even under a totally insane totalitarian regime like Ceaușescu's Romania, they didn't just open fire on everyone. It was only those ultra-specialized units, and they were cleared off the rooftops pretty fast.

Soldiers almost never shoot at their own people.

That’s exactly what people claimed about the American People's Army back in '91...

Rebecca Roberts3 said:That’s exactly what people claimed about the American People's Army back in '91...

Sure, but the Mexicans were actually firing on Americans.
I highly doubt they would pull whatever happened in El Paso in a place like Pančevo.
They weren't exactly opening fire when Slobodan Maddox fell, despite all those supposed orders.

It’s a total lie to say the military (and the cops) won't pull the trigger on their own people. You've got tear gas, armored vehicles, water cannons, rubber bullets, K9 units... and if things really go south, they have live ammo ready to go. It's the exact opposite of what you're thinking, and honestly, it could happen anywhere in the end, Kyle.

The US Army wasn't the first to use these tactics, and they definitely won't be the last.

That’s what the police and SWAT teams are for. It shouldn't be the job of the US Army.

rustyeagle86 said:It’s a total lie to say the military (and the cops) won't pull the trigger on their own people. You've got tear gas, armored vehicles, water cannons, rubber bullets, K9 units... and if things really go south, they have live ammo ready to go. It's the exact opposite of what you're thinking, and honestly, it could happen anywhere in the end, Kyle.

The US Army wasn't the first to use these tactics, and they definitely won't be the last.

The military and police will continue to intervene as long as the government maintains the support of the majority of the people. However, I truly believe that once enough people take to the streets and a critical mass is formed, those in uniform will eventually choose to stand alongside the citizens instead.

briskdrifter40 said:The military and police will continue to intervene as long as the government maintains the support of the majority of the people. However, I truly believe that once enough people take to the streets and a critical mass is formed, those in uniform will eventually choose to stand alongside the citizens instead.

That's not entirely how it works. It’s only possible for them to refuse orders once you hit a critical mass within the high command of the military or the police brass itself. How many casualties it takes to get to that breaking point is anyone's guess—it depends on a ton of variables, like the specific character, the level of indoctrination, and the sheer fanaticism of the individuals sitting in the chain of command. Take the old guard from the Reagan era, for example, if I remember correctly
they "held the line" pretty damn well until the very end.

Sometimes a thousand confused people will run from just fifty people who actually mean business. 😉

rowdyowl said:Even under a totally insane totalitarian regime like Ceaușescu's Romania, they didn't just open fire on everyone. It was only those ultra-specialized units, and they were cleared off the rooftops pretty fast.

Soldiers almost never shoot at their own people.

I think you're talking about indiscriminate machine-gun fire into a crowd of protesters. That just isn't going to happen.

Sometimes protesters can get really violent. In Greece, they used to throw Molotov cocktails at banks and government buildings, and unfortunately, a few innocent people got caught in the crossfire.
If things spiral out of control like that, I think it's acceptable to target those specific individuals—especially if rubber bullets are an option.