Law and Order

Today both evacuation and search and rescue efforts were halted after gunshots were fired at helicopters and anarchy and fires broke out around the Superdome. This is the culmination of what started two days ago. When the police and National Guard failed to restrain the looters at the beginning, lawlessness, being tolerated quickly grew. It's very similar to what we saw in Iraq immediately after our military success. The failure to maintain law and order then planted the seeds of much of the harvest we're still reaping today.

Ted Frank says it better than anyone else I've seen recently. Here's the highlight: "I fully acknowledge that shooting looters is an inappropriately disproportionate response if one views looting as mere larceny. But one doesn't shoot looters to protect property, one does so to protect order. Somebody is going to suffer unjustly when society breaks down. I don't understand why Muller thinks it preferable for the law-abiding citizens to be the cost-bearers. History has shown repeatedly that the way to stop an anarchic riot is an early display of substantial force." (Hattip Instapundit.)