Posted on 09/07/2005 4:45:24 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2005 Federal troops continue to deploy to the area ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, but active-duty forces will not participate in the mandatory evacuation order issued by local authorities in New Orleans, a senior military officer involved in the operations said today.
Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Inge, deputy commander of U.S. Northern Command, explained that active-duty troops would not be used in "a law enforcement issue." Guardsmen working under the order of a governor would, however, be able to enforce the mandatory evacuation order.
Emergency response officials are still in rescue mode in some areas while entering the remediation process in others, said Inge, briefing Pentagon reporters via a video connection from NORTHCOM's headquarters in Colorado.
Military aircraft will provide 71 hours of reconnaissance flights to survey damage "to determine what the priority for mitigation will be," Inge said. "We will continue to search and rescue. We will support the evacuation of survivors. We will transport and distribute relief supplies: ice, food, water and, of course, medical supplies. We are supporting firefighting efforts and have moved some capabilities into the (area)."
More than 63,000 military personnel in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, Inge said. This includes more than 18,000 active-duty soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. The Marine Corps has finished deploying the 11th and 24th Marine Expeditionary Units into Mississippi. Two brigades of soldiers -- one from 82nd Airborne Division, from Fort Bragg, N.C., and the 1st Cavalry Division, from Fort Hood, Texas -- will finish their deployment to Louisiana today.
More than 45,000 National Guardsmen are in the region. Inge said commanders on the ground are repositioning troops to make sure the right people are in the right places. They will launch a house-by-house search in flooded areas for people who need to be rescued.
Also, foreign military help is arriving. Canadian divers are helping with harbor reconstruction in the water off Pascagoula, Miss., Inge said. A Mexican vessel is scheduled to arrive today and join the USS Bataan in conducting search-and-rescue missions.
In the next few days, U.S. military personnel will continue to explore isolated areas and conduct rescues, provide for people awaiting evacuation, and expand medical facilities as needed. "We will deploy additional ships and aviation assets, should they become needed," Inge said.
The Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort will arrive in New Orleans Sept. 9.
PING
BTTT.
Good call - we don't need that image.
Plus if somebody has stayed and defended their business or neighborhood all this time I not sure why we force them to leave now that the power is getting turned back on in part of New orleans.
Now if they've been looting, this would be a good time to arrest them.
It's one thing the democrats won't be able to blame on Bush. Then again....
I think the Federal troops should immediately evacuate Governor Blanco, Senator Landrieu, and Mayor Nagin - to GiTMO.
Let the Govenor of LA fire on the poor of NO.
At the suggestion of writer Michelle Malkin last Friday, I have cobbled together a blogsite called Texas Clearinghouse for Katrina Aid to serve as a clearinghouse for refugee efforts in Texas.
Texas is getting more refugees than any other state -- that's fine, we'll take them all -- but we need help providing them with food, clothing, and shelter.
If you are a refugee, you can information that will help you find relief. If you want to donate or volunteer, you can find someone who needs you.
Right now the site mostly covers Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas but I will add various churches, schools, and other charities in Lubbock and Austin tonight. My wife was down at Reunion Arena in Dallas yesterday handing out care packages and spiritually ministering to the refugees as a representative of her employer. She says that the situation is tragic and that there's a lot of work to be done. There are so many children who don't know where their parents are or even if their parents are still alive.
There are a lot of churches and other organizations in Texas that need help in dealing with the problem and I would appreciate it if you would get the word out.
Many thanks,
Michael McCullough
Stingray blogsite
Federal troops cannot be used for security purposes in the US per a law called POSSE COMATATIS.
It is just another try to get President Bush in an impeachable offense.
I'm really starting to wonder if thousands may have died for exactly that reason.
The other states must demand, clearly and irrevokably, that they troops may NOT be used for forced evacuation. There are more than enough NOPD and state police to do that job.
Are you off your rocker? Do you want the Feds coming to your house and at gun point telling you to leave your property?
This is a "Republic" and states have their own authority.
Uh no. You must have misread what I said because I'm happy that federal troops won't be forcing people out of their homes.
And .. this is why Bush told Blanco - Bush would have control over the military.
Bush did not want an idiotic governor or mayor asking the military to do things the military is not really tasked to do.
As usual .. Bush knew what was going to happen and he kept the idiots from being in charge of the military.
Damn straight, the local incompetent officials have to be accountable.
Let them dig their own watery turd lined grave.
Posse Commitatus
The Posse Commitatus Act, while advisory and customary, is not equivalent to the Constitutional guarantee of border security to the several States. Further, the protectections offered by Posse Commitatus, supposedly precluding the use of military force within the US are at best, illusory. I point you to USC Title X, Section 333:
The President, by using the militia or the armed forces, or both, or by any other means, shall take such measures as he considers necessary to suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy, if it
(1) so hinders the execution of the laws of that State, and of the United States within the State, that any part or class of its people is deprived of a right, privilege, immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law, and the constituted authorities of that State are unable, fail, or refuse to protect that right, privilege, or immunity, or to give that protection; or
(2) opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.
In any situation covered by clause (1), the State shall be considered to have denied the equal protection of the laws secured by the Constitution.
So you see, Congress gave the President the police power with enormous latitude well over 100 years ago, Constitutional or not (IMO, not).
My mistake, I apologize for misunderstanding your post.
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