Posted on 09/18/2005 4:41:37 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi
President Bush's push to give the military a bigger role in responding to major disasters like Hurricane Katrina could lead to a loosening of legal limits on the use of federal troops on U.S. soil.
Pentagon officials are reviewing that possibility, and some in Congress agree it needs to be considered.
Bush did not define the wider role he envisions for the military. But in his speech to the nation from New Orleans on Thursday, he alluded to the unmatched ability of federal troops to provide supplies, equipment, communications, transportation and other assets the military lumps under the label of "logistics."
The president called the military "the institution of our government most capable of massive logistical operations on a moment's notice."
At question, however, is how far to push the military role, which by law may not include actions that can be defined as law enforcement _ stopping traffic, searching people, seizing property or making arrests. That prohibition is spelled out in the Posse Comitatus Act of enacted after the Civil War mainly to prevent federal troops from supervising elections in former Confederate states.
Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said, "I believe the time has come that we reflect on the Posse Comitatus Act." He advocated giving the president and the secretary of defense "correct standby authorities" to manage disasters.
Presidents have long been reluctant to deploy U.S. troops domestically, leery of the image of federal troops patrolling in their own country or of embarrassing state and local officials.
The active-duty elements that Bush did send to Louisiana and Mississippi included some Army and Marine Corps helicopters and their crews, plus Navy ships. The main federal ground forces, led by troops of the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C., arrived late Saturday, five days after Katrina struck.
They helped with evacuations and performed search-and-rescue missions in flooded portions of New Orleans but did not join in law enforcement operations.
The federal troops were led by Lt. Gen. Russel Honore. The governors commanded their National Guard soldiers, sent from dozens of states.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is reviewing a wide range of possible changes in the way the military could be used in domestic emergencies, spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said Friday. He said these included possible changes in the relationship between federal and state military authorities.
Under the existing relationship, a state's governor is chiefly responsible for disaster preparedness and response.
Governors can request assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. If federal armed forces are brought in to help, they do so in support of FEMA, through the U.S. Northern Command, which was established in 2002 as part of a military reorganization after the 9/11 attacks.
Di Rita said Rumsfeld has not made recommendations to Bush, but among the issues he is examining is the viability of the Posse Comitatus Act. Di Rita called it one of the "very archaic laws" from a different era in U.S. history that limits the Pentagon's flexibility in responding to 21st century domestic crises.
Another such law, Di Rita said, is the Civil War-era Insurrection Act, which Bush could have invoked to waive the law enforcement restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act. That would have enabled him to use either National Guard soldiers or active-duty troops _ or both _ to quell the looting and other lawlessness that broke out in New Orleans.
The Insurrection Act lets the president call troops into federal action inside the United States whenever "unlawful obstructions, combinations or assemblages _ or rebellion against the authority of the United States _ make it impracticable to enforce the laws" in any state.
The political problem in Katrina was that Bush would have had to impose federal command over the wishes of two governors _ Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana and Haley Barbour of Mississippi _ who made it clear they wanted to retain state control.
The last time the Insurrection Act was invoked was in 1992 when it was requested by California Gov. Pete Wilson after the outbreak of race riots in Los Angeles. President George H.W. Bush dispatched about 4,000 soldiers and Marines.
Di Rita cautioned against expecting quick answers to tough questions like whether Congress should define when to trigger the president's authority to send federal troops to take charge of an emergency, regardless of whether a governor agreed.
"Is there a way to define a threshold, or an anticipated threshold, above which a different set of relationships would kick in?" Di Rita asked. "That's a good question. It's only been two weeks, so don't expect us to have the answers. But those are the kinds of questions we need to be asking."
By the police,perhaps the Nat'l Guard --- not the military.
Corrupt local gov't should not lead to a military state.
Perhaps I didn't make my point clearly enough. Any law can be trumped by executive order or swept away by Congress whenever there is a threat to security and civil order. Who knows how long the drafts of the Patriot Act sat there on the sidelines waiting for such an emergency as 9/11? I guarantee you that, in the time between 9/11 and the time the Patriot Act was passed, there wasn't time to draft, much less have individual Congressmen read a 4000-page piece of legislation. We have passed the point-of-no-return expecting our legal system and courts to protect us from executive orders or laws that are unconstitutional. Posse Comitatus can be waved aside easily. The same goes with laws that protect Americans' privacy, freedom from intelligence surveillance, etc. All that is needed is to somehow establish justification in the name of security. It's not right. It's just the way it is.
That does not mean Posse Comitatus should be amended. In fact, it should be strengthened to create a larger barrier between military and civilian law enforcement.
Instead of the doom and gloom you write, how about a practical suggestion for making things better?
I have thought of some different options. I do think FEMA could have executed better. The root cause of the problems I think were due to the fact the New Orleans and State officials were both incompetent but also greatly limited in their ability to respond because of damage from the storm itself.
As opposed to extending the military mission, why not organize FEMA like a military organization, perhaps under the Coast Guard. When states of emergency are declared have callups to active duty and deploy with similar equipment and organization of a military operation.
It is hard to imagine the spectacle of the US military rolling over the Panchartrain Causeway and engaging US citizens, unruly though they may have been, in a firefight.
I agree with you 100%. Unfortunately, this is exactly how most of our laws and regulations are being written.
The MSM will inflate some perceived problem for months. Then both sides of the political aisle will attempt to protect us (especially women, children, minorities). Cha-Ching one more freedom lost because of the actions of some piece of human debris.
Maybe freepers should support stem cell research for growing a backbone in Republicans. I am tired of voting for Republicans only to get dumbocrap lite.
Your idea is good, but I disagree with the root cause.
The fault lies entirely with state and local officials. The ability to respond was diminished due to a lack of planning and a lack of protecting their first responders, not due to the storm damage. Local police, fire, medical, etc should have been secured and staged in a safe location so they could go into the city after the storm passed. That did not happen because there was no evacuation --- other than a verbal order. This lack of evacuation led to the numerous stranded people and the drowinings of those unable to help themselves (nursing home).
FEMA is primarily a coordinator of the responders. Since the state was unwilling to allow FEMA to coordinate the National Guard and since local law enforcement was scattered and in disarray, FEMA had nobody to coordinate.
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