Posted on 09/03/2005 7:19:37 AM PDT by Truthsayer20
Congress Likely to Probe Guard Delay By SHARON THEIMER Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Several states ready and willing to send National Guard troops to the rescue in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans didn't get the go-ahead until days after the storm struck - a delay nearly certain to be investigated by Congress.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state's National Guard on Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route didn't come from Washington until late Thursday.
California troops just began arriving in Louisiana on Friday, three days after flood waters devastated New Orleans and chaos broke out. In fact, when New Orleans' levees gave way to deadly flooding on Tuesday, Louisiana's National Guard had received help from troops in only three other states: Ohio, which had nine people in Louisiana then; Oklahoma, 89; and Texas, 625, figures provided by the National Guard show.
Maj. Gen. Thomas Cutler, who leads the Michigan National Guard, said he anticipated a call for police units and started preparing them, but couldn't go until states in the hurricane zone asked them to come.
"We could have had people on the road Tuesday," Cutler said. "We have to wait and respond to their need."
The Michigan National Guard was asked for military police by Mississippi late Tuesday and by Louisiana officials late Wednesday. The state sent 182 MPs to Mississippi on Friday and had 242 headed to Louisiana on Saturday.
With many states' Guard units depleted by deployments to Iraq, Katrina's aftermath was almost certain from the beginning to require help from faraway states.
Republicans and Democrats alike in Congress are just beginning to ask why one of the National Guard's most trusted roles - disaster relief - was so uneven, delayed and chaotic this time around.
Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said the situation has shown major breakdowns in the nation's emergency response capabilities. "There must be some accountability in this process after the crisis is addressed," he said.
Democrat Ben Nelson, Nebraska's other senator, said he now questions National Guard leaders' earlier assertions that they had enough resources to respond to natural disasters even with the Iraq war. "I'm going to ask that question again," Nelson said. "Do we have enough (troops), and if we do, why were they not deployed sooner?" President Bush was asked that question Friday as he toured the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast area and said he disagrees with criticism the military is stretched too thin.
"We've got a job to defend this country in the war on terror, and we've got a job to bring aid and comfort to the people of the Gulf Coast, and we'll do both," he said.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., plans to make oversight of the Defense Department, the National Guard and their assistance his top priority when he returns to Washington next week from an overseas trips, spokesman John Ullyot said Friday.
Bush had the legal authority to order the National Guard to the disaster area himself, as he did after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks . But the troops four years ago were deployed for national security protection, and presidents of both parties traditionally defer to governors to deploy their own National Guardsmen and request help from other states when it comes to natural disasters.
Though slow at the beginning, out-of-state Guard help was markedly increasing by the start of the weekend. As of Friday, nearly half the states had Guard members in Louisiana, boosting the total to at least 5,600 from out of state. Hundreds more were on the way.
Michigan, which was ready to help before the storm began, was sending 500 National Guard troops Friday and Saturday to help with water purification in Mississippi and police duty in New Orleans.
Arizona didn't get a request for military police until Thursday, when it received an urgent message sent to all state National Guards by the National Guard Bureau at the request of Louisiana, said Capt. Paul Aguirre. He said the unit cannot leave Phoenix until Sunday because arriving units must arrive at a pace the receiving end can handle. Among those headed in were several hundred from Wisconsin, where the governor took the unusual step of declaring a disaster outside his state to activate his Guard.
"This was the first time a governor ever declared a natural disaster in another state and activated to that other state," said Gov. Jim Doyle, who issued his order Wednesday. "We were ready to be deployed within 24 hours of that order."
In addition to Guard help, the federal government could have activated, but did not, a major air support plan under a pre-existing contract with airlines. The program, called Civilian Reserve Air Fleet, lets the government quickly put private cargo and passenger planes into service. The CRAF provision has been activated twice, once for the Persian Gulf War and again for the Iraq war. ---
Yeah, probably.
snip
"National Guard brigades fall under their division commanders for combat training purposes and their state TAG for state missions."
'The integrated Active and Reserve Division: background, legal foundation, and the role of judge advocates' http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m6052/is_2003_March/ai_102910511
I wonder if this is true.
Not that I doubt your assertion for a minute. Sadly, it's more my ignorance that makes me question.
What concerns me is the really bad press the President and Feds are receiving on this. Absolutely NOTHING is going to be accomplished unless the TRUTH comes out, unfettered and unspun.
Notice it's mostly Democrats pointing the finger and it's their norm...spin,spin,spin and, of course, LIE.
Another thing that concerns me is the notion of a congressional investigation. After that 9-11 ommission-commission I'm wary of attempts to alter history.
It seems the liberals mess it up, the inevitable catastrophe comes, and NOW they somehow manage to change history!
Dear Lord, I just want the TRUTH.
Disaster relief is best managed at the local level; I'd expect a conservative would agree with that. You can hardly hold Bush accountable for the total incompetence of Blanco and Nagin.
Despite the "federalization" process during Nixon's first term, that is incorrect.
That is sort of the problem with the federal response to this national security crisis.
Factually incorrect.
This wasn't a case of some neighborhood riot needing NG assistance to manage. This is the largest natural disaster in US history-- a Cat 5 hitting one of the most important cities in the US. And Bush's authority to use these troops however he wants is legal.
Again, factually incorrect.
SCOTUS would not do anything about Bush mobilizing NG troops to go to NOLA.
Irrelevant.
It's very much a national security issue because of the importance of NO to our way of life and because of the scope of the damage that would occur with a Cat 5 strike.
Even granting all that, the President still has to obey and follow the law.
Your emotion is understandable, but misplaced.
When you start a post with a statement that is blatently false, it is hard to take the rest of your comments seriously.
Federal and National Guard forces from other States can not deploy until the State Governor (in this case Louisiana) formally requests them.
Well, no, GENERALLY mobilizing the NG is a state issue. That is certainly true. This is about the fact that it was clear very early on what the aftermath of this hit would be and that clarity made federal involvement not only a no-brainer, but a duty. It's like if a missile was about to hit NOLA or a huge Hollywood asteroid. Once you know it's going to happen, you also know what the damage will be, and that knowledge makes it a federal issue-- provide for the common defense.
The President commands the NG. Period.
In other words the National Guard can only be deployed by a governor for law enforcemnt purposes.
See also:
A Brief descirption of the U..Miliatry
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR981/MR981.app.pdf
National Guard forces normally operate in state active duty (SAD) status when responding to disasters and civil emergency. During such assistance efforts, one of their primary functions is to reinforce law enforcement agencies. The National Guard, once federalized, like the Active Army, becomes bound by the Posse Comitatus Act and loses the ability to act as a law enforcement agency.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/call/call_93-6_chap9.htm\
Posse Comitatus Act
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/comrel/factfile/Factcards/PosseComitatus.html
The truth seems to be that the government response, including coordination among various states, on all levels from local to federal, was a disaster. Coupled with the fact that the population remaining in NO lacked any initiatiave what-so-ever, apart from the criminals and assorted sub-humans going on a looting, murdering and raping rampage, you get what we have in New Orleans today. In other words, the usual suspects, government and inner city dependants, behaved as expected. The lesson for everyone is that don't in any circumstance rely on the state, local or federal government for your life and limb.
Exactly....Once NG is federlized they cannot perform in LEO actions..that is why you keep the NG at the state level.
It's like when you have a kid who really wants to fix the car and you know he's going to eff it up (regardless of how much he wants to do it) because you know your kid. All Bush needed to do was know who he was dealing with. Apparently, he thought such a big disaster would be easily managed by Blanco and Nagin. I question that judgment he made. Big city mayors are almost always incompetent on managing things like this because they get into power and hold it by using abilities that have nothing to do with managing huge crises. Jindal would have been governor if not for the racists in Louisiana. I can see Bush seeing that Jindal is there and that he could hold off a bit, but Blanco? She's a moron. I knew that before this event. I knew it because I followed the governor's race.
This is a particularly repulsive sophistry on the part of the AP reporter. The "federal red tape" she so dishonestly tries to blame on the federal government is nothing more than the law which requires the Governor to officially request and authorize the federal assistance from other state's National Guard units. The feds were NOT dragging their heels, they were pawing the ground at the starting line, waiting for Governor Blanco to "pull the trigger", as Col Hunt so colorfully put it last night.
BS
Regardless of whether James Madison would have thought it legal, it's legal today. Bush has the authority to command NG troops without permission, especially to combat a national security event.
Bears repeating ... and repeating ... and repeating ....
We don't know if it was red tape in Washington or a delay by the governor in letting Washington know she wanted the help. I suspect it was the latter, but don't know the answer.
Yes we do know - it was the Governor who held things up. Col. Hunt's team investigated this and he gave a report on this on O'Reilly last night. He specifically said the Governor would not "pull the trigger" to authoize action.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.