US Military Plans for Terrorism

BBC ^ | 9 August 2005 | Staff

[Our_Man_In_Gough_Island]

The US military is for the first time making its own plans for dealing with domestic terrorist attacks. Under the plans, quick-reaction forces will be prepared to deal with 15 potential scenarios, including simultaneous bomb attacks.

The civilian authorities would usually expect to plan for and provide the vast majority of the resources and personnel for major domestic emergencies.

Now military resources such as sniffer dogs will be easier to deploy.

The Department of Defense has not traditionally taken a major role in domestic operations.

The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 prevents the military from taking part in any law enforcement, an important part of traditional "states' rights".

The department has stressed that the new plans are just a way of providing specialist help for the civilian authorities where units are closer to the scene of an attack or other emergency.

The Department for Homeland Security takes the lead in dealing on a national basis with terrorist attacks.

Planning process

A Department of Defense spokesman said: "It is vital to the defence of our nation that we plan for contingencies and actions necessary to deter, prevent and defeat current and emerging threats at home and abroad.

"This planning process is an extremely complex process encompassing numerous organisations including combatant commands, the Joint Staff, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and sometimes outside agencies before the plan is presented to the Secretary of Defense for approval.

"Traditionally, DoD resources and capabilities are provided only when local, state, and federal resources and capabilities have been exceeded or do not exist."

These resources might typically be sniffer dogs specialising in detecting explosives or search and rescue teams to find bodies in rubble.

Admiral Timothy Keating, head of the Northern Command, was quoted in the Washington Post as saying: "In my estimation, [in the event of] a biological, a chemical or nuclear attack in any of the 50 states, the Department of Defense is best positioned - of the various eight federal agencies that would be involved - to take the lead."

[Our_Man_In_Gough_Island]

In the past the civilian components of the military in DoD were responsible for most internal emergency planning, together with local civil defense authorities. What the article is saying is that these functions are being transferred to the uniformed services - the "military" as most people think of that term.

[jeffDavis1861]

I think,rather than use Federal forces,this country should think seriously about forming state malitias, training and ARMING them for domestic use. Our National Guard has been used in the past, but many of the units are now on active duty. I think a state home guard might be worth thinking about. IMHO

[stuartcr]

I think it would be very hard to find a state, with extra money to fund it.

[NuclearDruid]

There are about twenty states that already have state defense forces seperate from the National Guard. You can find out more information by visiting the State Guard Association of the United States at www.sgaus.org

ND

[justshutupandtakeit]

Since these would be acts of war Posse Comitatus is irrelevant.