Civil War in Dallas !

There was an aura of inevitability in the scenes that flashed on television news screens this week. What can only be described as " civil war " broke out on the streets of the American city of Dallas.  As a " Black Lives Matter " protest march made its way downtown, four snipers armed with assault rifles positioned themselves on the top of multi story parking stations to triangulate their fire effectively.   Without warning they cut loose on the uniformed police escorting the marchers.  Five police officers were killed in that hail of bullets and another six were seriously wounded.  Three of the snipers were eventually arrested and the fourth died of self inflicted gun wounds.

This is a civil war that has been coming for a long time.  Policing in America is very aggressive - and it probably needs to be that way.  There are actually more guns in America than there are people. The Constitution specifically grants the right to be armed and many local laws permit citizens to carry concealed handguns on their person.  As a result, even at a traffic stop a cop may force a driver to lay on the ground and be searched as routine procedure.

America certainly has a wide disparity in how black and white citizens are treated by the police.  The segregation days of the old south live on in the attitudes of some white police officers and the statistics tell a story.  Blacks are more likely to be arrested and sent to prison than whites - and black deaths at the hands of police are overwhelmingly common.

Time after time unarmed black citizens accosted by police end up dead.   Often the resulting enquiry is put in the hands of a Grand Jury - composed of mainly white citizens - who deliver a finding exonerating the cop.  Sometimes the circumstances are captured on film and it is blindingly clear that the deceased posed no threat to the officer, but rarely is justice served.

This incident could be the flash point from which we see urban warfare in America.  Tension has been building with the  " Black Lives Matter "  mantra taken across the entire country and now urban guerillas have chosen to take up arms against their oppressors.   Just like the " Black Panther " movement decades ago, they will be applauded by some - and copied by others.    Perhaps this incident is like a match dropped in a tinderbox !

Gun control seems a lost cause in America.   Politically, it is a fork in the road which the National Rifle Association will exploit shamelessly.  The police have been relentlessly increasing their firepower to the point where they are virtually indistinguishable from the military.  They carry assault rifles in their patrol cars and can summon armoured vehicles with machine guns as backup. At even a seemingly innocuous traffic stop they are likely to approach with a gun in their hand.

Most police jurisdictions have instituted at least some reform.   The mix of black and white officers is more even but policing is a dangerous job and the number of guns in the community make officers cautious.   They are trained to follow a routine which leaves them in command of the situation at all times - and to the public this seems threatening.

It raises the question of where do we go from here ?   Will these police deaths make the cops more aggressive  ?   Will we see urban warfare become a fact of life in similar fashion to the news feed we witness on television from other strife torn countries ?    Will we fear a black fifth column delivering mayhem in similar manner to Islamic State ?

That is the question that rests in the hands of American citizens.  So far, any hope of peace seems to be far out of reach !