A Uniform Response?
Lawmakers want a bigger relief role for the military, but the Pentagon is leery
The United States always keeps a military battalion at the ready, a group of a thousand soldiers able to ship out at a moment's notice, go anywhere on Earth, and do anything. The paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division have been sent to Honduras, Saudi Arabia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Kuwait. But should they be just as ready to deploy to New Orleans, Houston, or some other American city in the immediate aftermath of a catastrophe--be it a natural disaster or terrorist attack?
Earlier this month, the 82nd was sent to New Orleans, and its soldiers were praised for the recovery work they did there. But the division wasn't given the order to go until almost a week after Katrina made landfall, leading to questions about whether the paratroopers could have saved more lives had they been sent earlier. Now the debate has grown much wider. Some Washington policymakers are beginning to wonder whether the nation's military should be responders not of last resort but of first. Inside the Pentagon, however, there is little love for that idea; the military exists, many officers argue, to fight wars, not police streets or hand out relief supplies.
Late last week, however, wasn't the time for debate. As Hurricane Rita bore down on the upper Texas-Louisiana coast, the military mobilized the National Guard and thousands of active-duty troops. President Bush made plans to fly to the Pentagon's Northern Command headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., to monitor the military's response. Six Navy ships--including the USNS Comfort hospital vessel--followed the hurricane through the Gulf to the Texas shore to be available to provide immediate aid. The military also positioned satellite communication equipment and helicopters to facilitate damage assessment and rescue operations. An active-duty general, Lt. Gen. Robert Clark, was tasked to head the military's relief effort.
Winds of change. For future natural disasters, this sort of response could become the rule, not the exception. President Bush set the tone for the debate in his September 15 address, when he conceded that the response to Hurricane Katrina was not well coordinated. "It's now clear," Bush said, "that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces--the institution of our government most capable of massive logistical operations on a moment's notice." Last week, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the president had a "fair point" and suggested that the Pentagon would have a role when local authorities were overwhelmed. But Rumsfeld continued to emphasize that the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act forbids active-duty soldiers from taking on law enforcement duties.
At Bush's direction, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has begun a review of those restrictions. On Capitol Hill, Sen. John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is also taking a hard look. Warner is worried that the restrictions on the domestic role of the military may have slowed its response to Katrina. Currently, state authorities must specifically request the assistance of the active-duty military--and usually give up control of their own National Guard to get that help. Some lawmakers want to take a look at that system and see if it can be streamlined.
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