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What do ICE, the Black and Tans, and the Mongol Horde have in common? They're something you unleash on subjects who refuse to be governed by the gentle hand of civilian administration. If you play nice and pay tribute you get the diplomat or the local policeman. If you refuse you get soldiers instead. Are they a dangerous overstep? Yes, deliberately so. They're also unjust, rapacious, and cruel. They're intolerable in a civilized society. That's the point. They're supposed to be intolerable. Unable to tolerate them, the regime's enemies are then supposed to surrender.
When this force is unleashed, the offer is always the same: "I'll pull back my murderous thugs when you start treating my civilian administrators with respect appropriate to the power of my regime. You know the baton-carrying constable has no power over you, but I order you to behave like he holds your life in his hands. You know this arrogant nobleman claiming to speak for the Khan only has a few bodyguards at his disposal, but I order you to pretend he has the power to destroy you with a wave of his hand. If you refuse to accept my power when I rule with a light hand, I'll rule with an iron fist. If you refuse to obey my constable or pay tribute to my diplomat, I'll send in the troops to extract your loyalty by force."
Surely ICE deporting people is actually just normal? And everyone's overreacting because everyone's emotional setpoint has adjusted to the last administration.
Isn't "martial law" the US-equivalent of your list here?
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The Black and Tans are known, among other things, for failing to do exactly the thing they were intended to do.
In the sense that they eventually we got some semblance of coherent resistance to them? Not sure how that refutes the comparison to the Mongol Horde.
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