Drudge-Developing: WHITE HOUSE MULLED SEIZING RELIEF MISSION

Drudge ^

[sissyjane]

>> WHITE HOUSE MULLED SEIZING RELIEF MISSION // Invoke the Insurrection Act? Bush's senior advisers debated last week whether the president should seize control of the chaotic hurricane relief mission from the governor so that active-duty combat troops could be sent to enforce order... Developing

Update******

Political Issues Snarled Plans for Troop Aid

"WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 - As New Orleans descended into chaos last week and Louisiana's governor asked for 40,000 soldiers, President Bush's senior advisers debated whether the president should speed the arrival of active-duty troops by seizing control of the hurricane relief mission from the governor.

For reasons of practicality and politics, officials at the Justice Department and Pentagon, and then at the White House, decided not to urge Mr. Bush to take command of the effort.

Instead, the Washington officials decided to rely on the growing number of National Guard personnel flowing into Louisiana, who were under Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco's control. The debate was triggered as officials began to realize that Hurricane Katrina exposed a critical flaw in the national disaster response plans created after the Sept. 11 attacks. According to the administration's senior homeland security officials, the hurricane showed the failure of their plan to recognize that local police, fire and medical personnel might be incapacitated and unable to act quickly until reinforcements arrive on the scene..."

".. To seize control of the mission, Mr. Bush would have had to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows the president in times of unrest to command active-duty forces into the states to perform law enforcement duties. But decision makers in Washington felt certain that Governor Blanco would have resisted surrendering control of the military relief mission as Bush Administration officials believe would have been required to deploy active-duty combat forces before law and order had been re-established. While troops can conduct relief missions without the legal authority of the Insurrection Act, Pentagon and military officials say that no active-duty forces could have been sent into the chaos of New Orleans on Wednesday or Thursday without confronting law-and-order challenges......."

[Torie]

I don't blame anyone who lacked the means to leave before the storm hit. Do you?

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

Is there a good way to be wackaloon??

[Randy Larsen]

Where am I wrong?

You're not!

[Fred Nerks]

Don't forget, I'm an Aussie and a bit out of the loop, but this fellow is, I seem to recall, the brother of the Governor of a nearby state who threatened to punch or kick GWB...

[lafla]

I heard it was the Guard that turned them away

[mad_as_he$$]

Technically Bush didn't need an insurrection. There was a Federal State of Emergency in effect since 9-14-2001. He renewed it today.

[Ohioan from Florida]

Thank you. You are most kind to help. Information can be much more helpful than money in many situations.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Tempting under the circumstances, but I think GW made the right call by not doing it.

[Randy Larsen]

Dead on. Too many people miss that angle.

Thank You!

[GoLightly]

I wonder what would have happened if the LANG & state police had refused to recognize Blanco's authority after she jumped the shark. IOW, they should have ignored her unlawful orders to prevent people from bringing in needed supplies. From another post, the Wildlife Service should not have been preventing private citizens from evacuating people from hospitals, but instead they should have been joining their brethren in pushing the witch out of the loop. All of them could have cited Nuremberg as the precedent for their actions.

[patriciaruth]

Thanks!

[Republican Red]

For the millionth time, then President called each of the three governors on Tuesday. He wanted to come down for an immediate visit. Haley Barbour, Riley and Blanco stated that they did NOT want him there until at least the end of the week.

A Presidential visit required to many security personnel that were needed for the rescue effort. The President not only would be in the way but would have been in harms way.

Blanco would have been screaming form the rroftop that the President was only there for a photo op and impeded the resue effort. Heck, he went on Friday and was accused of impeding the rescue effort still. He can't win so he can only do what he thinks is right.

[Arizona Carolyn]

Oh I know that... but letting them die of starvation and dehydration isn't a good way to attract them.

[sissyjane]

Yeah, yeah, yeah....

[not_apathetic_anymore]

I think you're right. It's been SO long since we've thought of each state as sovereign instead of some division of the federal government.This is a great civics lesson - unfortunately many people had to die to catch the attention of most of the US residents.

[Kryptonite]

Or militias. Odd that they are criticizing DHS for not organizing militias.

[Callahan]

True. If the military had gone in on day one and started blowing away looters, we'd have a different story line from the Left: Fascist Bush Sends Soldiers to Kill Oppress Blacks.

IMO that would have had less traction than the current meme. Americans wanted order out of the chaos. This was one instance where Bush could have been the "dictator" his enemies imagine and gotten away with it.

[Fred Nerks]

http://www.blindmanphoto.com/images/Stop-Blaming-FEMA.jpg

[Ohioan from Florida]

Good to know. Thanks for digging that up.

[Randy Larsen]

I think as a former governor, Bush was loathe to set the precedent of taking over the state...and I think he was right. The incompetence of the staate and local governments is coming out now, but Bush would have STILL taken the blame of response AND have a charge of "dictatorship" to boot had he done it.

Excellent point!