Posted on 10/05/2005 10:51:13 AM PDT by tjbravo
President George W. Bush asked Congress on Tuesday to consider giving him powers to use the military to enforce quarantines in case of an avian influenza epidemic.
He said the military, and perhaps the National Guard, might be needed to take such a role if the feared H5N1 bird flu virus changes enough to cause widespread human infection.
"If we had an outbreak somewhere in the United States, do we not then quarantine that part of the country? And how do you, then, enforce a quarantine?" Bush asked at a news conference.
"It's one thing to shut down airplanes. It's another thing to prevent people from coming in to get exposed to the avian flu. And who best to be able to effect a quarantine?" Bush added.
"One option is the use of a military that's able to plan and move. So that's why I put it on the table. I think it's an important debate for Congress to have."
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.myway.com ...
As scary as using the military in a civilian capacity may seem it is not nearly as scary as the spectre of another global flu pandemic like the one that killed over 20,000,000 people worldwide in 1918.
The US military is the only organization on earth to respond to a situation of this magnitude if it occurs (which I sincerely hope it does not).
If you want to read what I am talking about, Google "1918 influenza". This was the greatest human disaster of the past 100 years and it has been mostly forgotten.
No comment until I hear what Dustin Hoffman has to say.
The answer to everything lately is "the military". True Americans should be very alarmed at this.
TLR
Carolyn
The answer to everything lately is "the military". True Americans should be very alarmed at this.
TLR
Wonder if they can innoculate the quarantiners against the quarantinees?
Shouldn't we consult Bianca Jagger on this one ?
Taking the military out of the equation would be foolish since the scale of an outbreak of this kind or another disaster - terrorist, criminal, or natural - requires that extraordinary measures be planned and ready.
The sovereignty of the states must also be preserved, which means the discussion the President is asking for must take place.
At the moment our nation's disaster response is held hostage by the weakest link, and that weakest link can appear at any level of government. In the case of Katrina it was local government, but that doesn't preclude a future administration from being the weakest link at the Federal level.
Debate and discussion on this issue need to take place. After the debate, we the people will have to decide which direction to take from there.
Exactly!
Considering the chaos in NO during a flood imagine the scale with a nationwide pandemic.
But even if it meant the loss of my own family currently, at no point would I advocate the use of the military for 'humanitarian' purposes on US soil. But of course Republicans have advocated that in one form or another since the beginning of the party haven't they? Good to see Bush is returning back to even more Republican roots
It disturbs me that so many that consider themselves conservative would be willing to hand any portion of control to the military on our home soil
Look at the job the local officials did concerning Katrina. They were more dangerous than the hurricane.
The military already has the organizational skills to spread out and help if it comes to pass.
think conversely
what if
alqueda delivers biological agents?
as it is there has not been a natural pandemic. we are long overdue and the population levels are too high let alone the ability of disease, any disease, to travel globally
in my opinion containment strategy is necessary. even if bird fu is an excuse.
Quarantine an entire part of the country??? Don't you think that is a bit overboard? Will the entire Bible Belt be quarantined because of a farm in Knoxville? Don't leave me, Danny!
I thought you two might be interested in this.
The only way to find out why the virus was so virulent and how to defeat it was to reproduce it.
The retrieval of whole virus from an Inupiat woman buried deep in the permafrost of NW Alaska in Brevig Mission after the 1918 pandemic is one of the great medical detective stories of all time.
Anyone wanting to read up on this should get a copy of "Flu" by Gina Kolata.
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