Military May Play Bigger Relief Role

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http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/D8CM6FB00.html

 

Military May Play Bigger Relief Role

Sep 17 2:59 PM US/Eastern

 

 

By ROBERT BURNS

AP Military Writer

 

WASHINGTON

 

President Bush's push to give the military a bigger role in responding

to major disasters like Hurricane Katrina could lead to a loosening of

legal limits on the use of federal troops on U.S. soil.

 

Pentagon officials are reviewing that possibility, and some in

Congress agree it needs to be considered.

 

Bush did not define the wider role he envisions for the military. But

in his speech to the nation from New Orleans on Thursday, he alluded

to the unmatched ability of federal troops to provide supplies,

equipment, communications, transportation and other assets the

military lumps under the label of " logistics. "

 

The president called the military " the institution of our government

most capable of massive logistical operations on a moment's notice. "

 

At question, however, is how far to push the military role, which by

law may not include actions that can be defined as law enforcement _

stopping traffic, searching people, seizing property or making

arrests. That prohibition is spelled out in the Posse Comitatus Act of

enacted after the Civil War mainly to prevent federal troops from

supervising elections in former Confederate states.

 

Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, Sen. John Warner, R-Va.,

chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said, " I believe the time

has come that we reflect on the Posse Comitatus Act. " He advocated

giving the president and the secretary of defense " correct standby

authorities " to manage disasters.

 

Presidents have long been reluctant to deploy U.S. troops

domestically, leery of the image of federal troops patrolling in their

own country or of embarrassing state and local officials.

 

The active-duty elements that Bush did send to Louisiana and

Mississippi included some Army and Marine Corps helicopters and their

crews, plus Navy ships. The main federal ground forces, led by troops

of the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C., arrived late

Saturday, five days after Katrina struck.

 

They helped with evacuations and performed search-and-rescue missions

in flooded portions of New Orleans but did not join in law enforcement

operations.

 

The federal troops were led by Lt. Gen. Russel Honore. The governors

commanded their National Guard soldiers, sent from dozens of states.

 

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is reviewing a wide range of

possible changes in the way the military could be used in domestic

emergencies, spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said Friday. He said these

included possible changes in the relationship between federal and

state military authorities.

 

Under the existing relationship, a state's governor is chiefly

responsible for disaster preparedness and response.

 

Governors can request assistance from the Federal Emergency Management

Agency. If federal armed forces are brought in to help, they do so in

support of FEMA, through the U.S. Northern Command, which was

established in 2002 as part of a military reorganization after the

9/11 attacks.

 

Di Rita said Rumsfeld has not made recommendations to Bush, but among

the issues he is examining is the viability of the Posse Comitatus

Act. Di Rita called it one of the " very archaic laws " from a different

era in U.S. history that limits the Pentagon's flexibility in

responding to 21st century domestic crises.

 

Another such law, Di Rita said, is the Civil War-era Insurrection Act,

which Bush could have invoked to waive the law enforcement

restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act. That would have enabled him

to use either National Guard soldiers or active-duty troops _ or both

_ to quell the looting and other lawlessness that broke out in New

Orleans.

 

The Insurrection Act lets the president call troops into federal

action inside the United States whenever " unlawful obstructions,

combinations or assemblages _ or rebellion against the authority of

the United States _ make it impracticable to enforce the laws " in any

state.

 

The political problem in Katrina was that Bush would have had to

impose federal command over the wishes of two governors _ Kathleen

Blanco of Louisiana and Haley Barbour of Mississippi _ who made it

clear they wanted to retain state control.

 

The last time the Insurrection Act was invoked was in 1992 when it was

requested by California Gov. Pete Wilson after the outbreak of race

riots in Los Angeles. President George H.W. Bush dispatched about

4,000 soldiers and Marines.

 

Di Rita cautioned against expecting quick answers to tough questions

like whether Congress should define when to trigger the president's

authority to send federal troops to take charge of an emergency,

regardless of whether a governor agreed.

 

" Is there a way to define a threshold, or an anticipated threshold,

above which a different set of relationships would kick in? " Di Rita

asked. " That's a good question. It's only been two weeks, so don't

expect us to have the answers. But those are the kinds of questions we

need to be asking. "