- Police action
Police action in
military /security studies andinternational relations , is aeuphemism for a military action undertaken without a formaldeclaration of war .Since the
Second World War , formal declarations of war have increasingly become a rarity. Instead, nations involved in military conflict (especially the major-power nations) often attempt to justify their conduct by fighting the war under the auspices of a "police action".The term was first used by U. S. President Harry S. Truman to describe the
Korean war [ [http://www.afa.org/magazine/June2000/0600edit.asp] afa.org] . It is frequently used to imply a formal claim of sovereignty by colonial powers, such as in the military actions of theNetherlands , Britain, and other allies during theIndonesian National Revolution (1945-1949), and theMalayan Emergency (1948-1960).Authorized use of force is another
euphemism for military action or war, however it tends to be used for more limited conflicts that may not justify the term "war".Fact|date=June 2007Examples of police actions
The invasion of the
Hyderabad state , codenamedOperation Polo , in1948 byIndia was referred to as a police action by theGovernment of India .The
Korean War , theVietnam War and theKargil War were undeclared wars, hence are sometimes described as police actions.The
Soviet war in Afghanistan was an undeclared war, and hence also could be described as a police action, especially since the initial troop deployments into Afghanistan were at the request of the Afghan government.The
United States has launched all of its major armed conflicts sinceWorld War II as police actions. In these events, theUnited States Congress had not made a formaldeclaration of war , yet thePresident of the United States , as the commander-in-chief, has claimed authority to send in the armed forces when he deemed necessary. The legal legitimacy of each of these police actions was based upon decisions such as theGulf of Tonkin Resolution , Authorization for of Use of Force by Congress, and various U.N. Resolutions. Nonetheless, limited Congressional control has been asserted, in terms of funding appropriations.Fact|date=February 2007Legal justification for police actions
Under international law
See the United Nations Charter.
Under U.S. law
In the U.S., the legal legitimacy of each of its police actions since WWII was based upon decisions such as the
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution , Authorization for of Use of Force by Congress, and various U.N. Resolutions. These effectively granted the President the legal ability to deploy troops overseas without Congress ever formally declaring war (in the Constitutional sense of "war"), sometimes despite mass protests by the nation's own citizens and/or in violation of international law.Fact|date=July 2008Appropriate use of the term
Use of the term does not appear to have gained currency outside of the limited arena of justification of military action: for example, the U.S. Navy refers to the Korean conflict as a war, and when they refer to police action, they surround the term in
scare quotes . [ [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/kowar/kowar.htm] ]Similarly, a plaque at the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial refers to the Vietnam conflict as a war, not a police action.Use of the term police action is intended to imply either a claim of formal sovereignty, or a claim of authority to intervene militarily at the nation's own discretion.
Veterans often display a high degree of disdain for the term "police action," as it somehow implies that their sacrifices weren't legitimate, and perhaps also that they're not even veterans of a true "war".Fact|date=May 2008
ee also
*
Posse comitatus
*Korean War
*Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
*War Powers Resolution
*Declaration of war by the United States References
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