I think there is a difference between soldier and policeman. I can't back up any of this with data, so it is just based upon my narrow experience.
A lot of people become soldiers because they are poor and think this is a way to see the world and possibly obtain a skill or even go to college. They very often think there is little chance of combat. Now I am not saying all people who become soldiers fall into that category, but I think it is true in a lot of cases.
On the other hand, I think quite a lot of people become cops because they like the idea of wielding power over people.
Now, this is not to say that all cops are bad people who like the idea of threatening people. Even though I do think there is a dramatic difference in personality types (between your average soldier and policeman), let's skip the psychological profile, because that is not the main point.
What is the main point is that when a soldier acts in his/her role qua soldier, s/he is a representative of a reactionary agent and, it does not matter to the people being repressed whether or not this soldier is a NICE guy who makes chicken soup for his mother when she has a cold. The same goes for policemen.
-Thomas
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