[abc.net] The Italian government has defended its decision to use soldiers to patrol cities in an effort to curb crime, rejecting criticism that it will "militarise" the streets. "There is a strong call from citizens for better control of the streets, for improved safety," Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa told Sky Italia television. "My hope is that particularly in the evening, in the cities, these troops can ensure greater safety."

The government announced on Friday that up to 2,500 soldiers, some of whom have served in Afghanistan and Kosovo, would be made available for a trial period of six months to bolster the police in difficult urban areas.

Silvio Berlusconi's new conservative government won an April election on a law-and-order ticket, and crime and public safety have stayed on top of the political agenda since Mr Berlusconi took office.

The government's decision was attacked by the centre-left opposition, with Roberta Pinotti, defence spokesman for the Democratic party, expressing "firm opposition to the militarisation of the streets".

Italy's main trade unions said rather than using soldiers the government should make better use of 25,000 police who are doing desk work, and the mayor of Turin said the move was "populist demagoguery" that would hurt tourism and Italy's image abroad.

"I have only seen soldiers on the streets in Bogota, but there the situation is rather different," Sergio Chiamparino told La Repubblica daily.

Mr La Russa said he did not understand the criticism but specified that the use of soldiers would not be permanent, with the initial six-month period being renewable "just once."

"Very often just seeing a [soldier's] uniform can be sufficient as prevention. I don't see what the problem is," he said.

To confirm the possibility of this Militarization of our private & personal USA society, let's just look at how the local police act and are trained now :::

with SWAT teams [ a military unit],
with only police having guns [what happens to those who have exclusive weapon powers?] ,
with the buddy-gang-affilitations that are mostly loyal to each other , and not to the public they are to protect,
with uniforms representing their POWER and allegiance, uniforms used to induce intimidation,
with the National Guard being called out at any time "order is called for" by a politician AKA military commander,
with the arrests and intimidation for minor infractions based on arbitrary decisions made by anyone in any uniform on civilian streets and in personal properties ?

we've already got MILITARIZATION here ....w/o the official "OK" and admission, but Italy may be more obvious about the procedures. We are pretending they are just 'peace officers', which is a clever euphemysm...a nice word for Enforcement Officers
[en-FORCE, meaning not often by peaceful means, but it's sometimes necessary and other times just convenient for the enforcers]
How many ordinary people do not feel immediately intimidated, scared, stressed, concerned, when they see a uniform with a shiny badge ? Not for being criminal or drug-taking, but just because the culture of law-enforcers have created an IMAGE OF UNQUESTIONED POWER for themselves....we are worried even if we are doing nothing unlawful or bad. That is the same Militarization = warrior, soldier with weapon, authority who can hurt-kill-arrest-abuse effect.
They are and act as military are trained to act.

How is it different here ? Shall we count the ways?
We should.

Let us know what you readers know, in a more general factual way .....not just angry opinions, like mine is ...mostly my views & experiences....

Does authority have to be scarey and threatening to work and be effective ? Does military might create
order in the streets and safety for us citizens? maybe....