US appointed Iraqi “Foreign Minister” Falah Hassan al-Naqib says he will impose “martial law” in response to ongoing violence, particularly the horrific series of car bombings, 20 in the past month alone, if he feels it necessary. The question would be, what sort of martial law can a government with no military impose?
Falah Hassan al-Naqib, the interior minister, said the new interim government would have no qualms about imposing martial law if the violence threatened to undermine its authority.
“If we need to do it, yes, we’ll do it, we won’t hesitate,” he said. “This is the security of our country, the security and the life of our people.”
martial law
n.
- Temporary rule by military authorities, imposed on a civilian population especially in time of war or when civil authority has broken down.
- The law imposed on an occupied territory by occupying military forces.
That should go over like a lead balloon. In what way does “martial law” differ from what is happening in Iraq now, anyway?