posse comitatus threatened !! This is very worrying and may have...

posse comitatus threatened !! This is very worrying and may have some unpleasant economic ramifications as well.

The intentional FEMA 'shambles' has worked...

Police State U.S.A. ---> Posse Comitatus At Risk.

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Bush urges larger role for military.

WASHINGTON -- Seeking to head off a replay of Hurricane Katrina foul-
ups, President George W. Bush yesterday called on Congress to
consider giving the U.S. military a leading role in recovery efforts
in a catastrophic natural disaster or terrorist attack, a break with
precedent sure to spark controversy.

Bush signaled that he believed there might be natural disasters or
terrorist attacks so vast and destructive that they would require
the Pentagon to take the lead in rescue and recovery efforts, a job
that now goes mainly to state governors who dispatch National Guard
troops, assisted by the federal Department of Homeland Security.

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usbush26,0,2817420,print.story?coll=ny-nation-big-pix


Bush urges larger role for military.

BY CRAIG GORDON
WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- Seeking to head off a replay of Hurricane Katrina foul-
ups, President George W. Bush yesterday called on Congress to
consider giving the U.S. military a leading role in recovery efforts
in a catastrophic natural disaster or terrorist attack, a break with
precedent sure to spark controversy.

Bush wrapped up a weekend-long Hurricane Rita-watch tour in Colorado
and Texas. In San Antonio yesterday, he heard a two-star general
call the Katrina rescue efforts a "train wreck" of failed
coordination and communications, one that could be improved with a
national response plan.

Bush signaled that he believed there might be natural disasters or
terrorist attacks so vast and destructive that they would require
the Pentagon to take the lead in rescue and recovery efforts, a job
that now goes mainly to state governors who dispatch National Guard
troops, assisted by the federal Department of Homeland Security.

"That's going to be a very important consideration for Congress to
think about," Bush said.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said Bush, in recent
days, has talked about the need for "a trigger" that comes into play
during a massive event when, as during Katrina, the traditional
structure of state and local first-responders becomes overwhelmed
and the federal government needs to step in with its massive
resources.

"The president's talking about considering a situation where you
need a clear line of authority," McClellan said. "And it's the
Department of Defense that has the capability to do that ... to be
able to do it quickly for the initial time period you need to
stabilize the situation."

During Katrina, the White House was frustrated that Louisiana Gov.
Kathleen Blanco resisted the call to "federalize" the troops in New
Orleans under a single commander, and some Republicans have grumbled
that it was Blanco's poor handling of the initial National Guard
response that allowed conditions there to deteriorate, a situation
that has helped push Bush to his lowest approval ratings yet.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld already is studying whether the
Pentagon should have a broader role in future disasters. One senior
defense official yesterday pointed toward the example cited by the
two-star general, Maj. Gen. John White, of five helicopters
converging to rescue one person in New Orleans as the kind of
situation where the Pentagon might be able to take a stronger role
in coordinating efforts.

Still, any move to put more U.S. military control over disaster
response is sure to prove controversial, both to state officials who
now run the National Guard troops usually involved in those
operations, but also to conservatives in Bush's party suspicious of
federal trampling on state's rights.

Some military experts also believe resistance is likely to come from
inside the Pentagon itself, already stretched by war in Iraq and
Afghanistan and not looking to add more missions to its plate.

"There is a clear difference between disaster relief operations and
warfare. Our armed forces are designed to protect us from enemies,
not protect us from fires, floods and hurricanes," said retired Maj.
Gen. Bruce Lawlor, who once headed the Pentagon civil support unit
and later served as chief of staff to then-Homeland Security Chief
Tom Ridge.

In addition, such a move might require an amendment to a Civil-War-
era law known as Posse Comitatus that bars armed forces from
engaging in law-enforcement activities inside the United States
except in extreme circumstances.

At least one leading conservative in Congress, Rep. Tom DeLay (R-
Texas), signaled yesterday he would be uncomfortable with any
significant expansion of the federal role that didn't allow local
fire and rescue crews to be in charge.

"I don't want the federal government to take over disaster response,
believe me," DeLay told The Associated Press. Why? "Bureaucracy.
Bureaucracy. Bureaucracy," he said.

Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.