Posted on 09/08/2005 6:57:07 PM PDT by sissyjane
Edited on 09/08/2005 11:37:58 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
>> 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......."
Correct, the Dems would have hammered him if he tried that
But this also shows that they weren't ignoring the problems and were trying to find any way to get help into NOLA .. because the Governor was blocking it
If the government DARES give relief money directly to these incompetant fools, than I will not pay taxes anymore. I want a full investigation on where all the money that's been given to fix that freakin levee situation went. And why doesn't the government follow up to make sure the money is spent where it's supposed to go. It's outrageous. It's time for us taxpayers to start holding them ACCOUNTABLE.
My real concern is before the storm. We dodge a very big bullet when the storm weakened and took a turn at the last possible moment. After, we "just" subjected folks to agony and rape and discomfort, and no doubt a few extra deaths, and needless massive property damage, due to an extra four day delay. At least, that is how it panned out.
http://junkyardblog.net/archives/week_2005_09_04.html#004781
"President Bush failed now in one way. He failed to ascertain that he was dealing with a governor who was a clear and present danger to the people of Louisiana. That's a tough nut to crack in a crisis, so I don't blame him. Taking military control over Louisiana to save Blanco's subjects from her sociopathic leadership style would have been helpful to some individuals for sure, but the problem is that such a move may have done more serious long-term damage than the Democrats have already done to the United States in this crisis. Can you say "military dictator?" Can you say "ethnic cleansing?" Oh yeah. Those charges would have come right from Hillary herself. Hmm...now that I think about it, maybe there was a political method to Blanco's madness."
Good link on the Insurrection Act and Posse Comitatus:
http://www.homelandsecurity.org/bulletin/Primer_ChallengestoPreventionandPreparedness.htm
Use of Federal Troops for Law Enforcement Purposes: The Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C. § 1385)
Army and Air Force may not be used for law enforcement. DoD policy extends the prohibition to Navy and Marines.
National Guard in State-status are not covered by the Posse Comitatus Act.
Federal troops (incl. Federalized National Guard) may be used for law enforcement if the President invokes the Insurrection Act to quell civil disturbances.
Other exception includes preventing the loss of life or property during serious disturbances or calamities, and protecting Federal property and governmental functions.
Quelling Civil Disturbances: The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C. § 331 et seq.)
State and local governments have primary responsibility for quelling rebellions (32 C.F.R. § 215.4(a).
The President may use the military (including the Federalized National Guard) to quell
(1) civil disturbances in a State (upon the Governor's request),
(2) rebellions that make it difficult to enforce Federal law, or
(3) any insurrection that impedes a State's ability to protect citizens' constitutional rights and that State is unable to unwilling to protect these rights.
Before committing U.S. troops, the President must issue a proclamation for rebellious citizens to disperse, cease, and desist.
Some government attorneys believe that the Insurrection Act is subject to a very liberal interpretation.
Unnamed staff almost stepped into the Dem trap.
Not the same thing.
It is one hell of a tough call. I think and pray that LA is the one state that this could happen in. LA is not like any other state in the union. It is a state government of mafia dons with NO accountability at all. It has been that way for 200 years.
Why not?
In this century, unlike Reconstruction, the feds give it back when they're finished with it.
They even let the State run things while they take care of the business that brought them to town. :-)
The Governor of Louisiana ordered that no food and water be brought to the Superdome and Convention Center. Through its Homeland Security Department, the state claims it didn't want these locations to become a "magnet for people".
But it seems that Governor Blanco's was a partisan decision to let thousands of people suffer, and some die, in front of the TV cameras so that Democrats could blame Bush. Insurrection? Maybe not. I'd call it criminal negligence.
Holy Cow. This just gets worse and worse.
Where do they stand with the mandatory evacuation?Is the Governor still refusing to go along?
When the reports of people suffering and dying from the likes of E-coli and other toxins become daily news,how long before the libs jump on that as Bush`s fault?
When was the last time a President sent the military into a state, the Civil War?
New precedents are the stuff of life. I posited the predicate for doing it above. Blanco just saying no, and at stake inaction in the face of a massive human tragedy. But Bush would have had to have been quite confident that the seizure would have made a substantive difference, and that he had in place the assets to make a difference, and they were really ready to move. It may be a lack of confidence in that tipped the scales. Someday we will know.
Did the RATS intentionally make things worse in LA ? Have they shown that they will do anything to regain power in the last 5 years ?
Throw in that the Mayor publicly stated he was talking to his attorneys about the legality of evacuation (this after Maxfield's call).
It was all over FR and TWC.
Kinda confirms the story the reporter is working on.
I kind of wondered too if this wasn't the tragic result of some "get bush" political game that went way wrong more than they were expecting.
When the state could no longer handle it due to inept governing, the Federal governement stepped in. Why would you want the Fed's in there sooner? We (as in each state) set our own laws as long as they do not contradict Federal laws. This is the way it is, the way it should be and the way it was intended to be.
I don't think she has yet to declare the state of La an emergency...has she? Or rather order a mandatory evacuation...sorry
...
Doubt it. Blanco seems to always require 24 hours, to check her lip gloss, whisper into the heel of her shoe, and get instructions from her puppet masters.
Never pet a burning dog.
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