Influenza pandemic? Let the military take care of it, says Bush.
Influenza pandemic? Let the military take care of it, says Bush.
by Plutonium Page
Tue Oct 4th, 2005 at 16:08:11 PDT
I am not joking.
The headline says it all:
Bush Wants Right to Use Military if Bird Flu Hits
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.''
[snip]
He noted that some governors may object to the federal government commandeering the National Guard, which is under state command in most circumstances.
So commandeering the National Guard during the Katrina disaster was a nice practice exercise, I suppose, right?
Even more disturbing, and ominous, is this (namely the part I've highlighted in bold):
The active duty military is currently forbidden from undertaking law enforcement duties by the federal Posse Comitatus Act.
That law, passed in 1878 after the U.S. Civil War, does not prohibit National Guard troops under state control from doing police work. But, unless the law is changed, it would keep them from doing so if he [sic] Gulf region, Bush had asked Congress to consider giving the military control over initial response in dealing with major natural or other domestic disasters.
Jesus. Would he really do this? Would Congress actually consider it?
9/11 meant that the DOJ could use the USA PATRIOT Act to do whatever they wanted. And a flu pandemic might just give Bush the chance to put the country under military control.
Using disasters to further your agenda, George. We wouldn't expect anything less.
[editor's note, by Plutonium Page] Don't forget, it's Pandemic Flu Awareness Week. Visit the Flu Wiki often, and bloggers, use their resources to blog about bird flu. The more accurate information people have, the better off we'll be.
by Plutonium Page
Tue Oct 4th, 2005 at 16:08:11 PDT
I am not joking.
The headline says it all:
Bush Wants Right to Use Military if Bird Flu Hits
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.''
[snip]
He noted that some governors may object to the federal government commandeering the National Guard, which is under state command in most circumstances.
So commandeering the National Guard during the Katrina disaster was a nice practice exercise, I suppose, right?
Even more disturbing, and ominous, is this (namely the part I've highlighted in bold):
The active duty military is currently forbidden from undertaking law enforcement duties by the federal Posse Comitatus Act.
That law, passed in 1878 after the U.S. Civil War, does not prohibit National Guard troops under state control from doing police work. But, unless the law is changed, it would keep them from doing so if he [sic] Gulf region, Bush had asked Congress to consider giving the military control over initial response in dealing with major natural or other domestic disasters.
Jesus. Would he really do this? Would Congress actually consider it?
9/11 meant that the DOJ could use the USA PATRIOT Act to do whatever they wanted. And a flu pandemic might just give Bush the chance to put the country under military control.
Using disasters to further your agenda, George. We wouldn't expect anything less.
[editor's note, by Plutonium Page] Don't forget, it's Pandemic Flu Awareness Week. Visit the Flu Wiki often, and bloggers, use their resources to blog about bird flu. The more accurate information people have, the better off we'll be.
posted by Gretchen at
8:53 PM
5 Comments:
I heard or saw not sure which right now , but someone ofmedical importance said on Sunday that a large # of lives is expected to be lost to this flu.I'm sorry I didn't catch their name or if it was the CDControl.
Everyone is finally starting to get what will happen when/if bird flu gets here. It's pretty scary, but to trample all over the Constitution is not the way to go.
I really can't imagine how and what good the National Guard could do shoot down every sparrow? Alive in '05=Fixit in '06!
He wants the military to take over law enforcement duties - MARTIAL LAW. Picture what life will be like if he's allowed to do that. Does Nazi Germany or Stalin's Russia come to mind? It sure does for me. His stormtroopers will be goose stepping down Main Street before long. :-(
We have a chief justice of the Supreme Court who doesn't believe that personal privacy is a right, the SC has already taken away the right to personal property, so there's not much of a step to take away the last few liberties and rights we do have.
Even more chilling is he never actually says it will be American military who will be the ones called. There aren't enough troops to do the job in the country. Could be he's talking about UN troops? That is terrifying to think about.
Well, first wouldn't that mean comming out of iraq? He's not willing to admit this was a huge mistake not until he's lower the population by large #'s. Anyway I sent an e-mail to B. Boxer this morning about this Nat. Guard thing.
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