Today's Article
The Feds have yet
to create a workable
crisis response
among all levels of
government.
to create a workable
crisis response
among all levels of
government.
The American Spark
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Are We Still Without A 'Federal Crisis Response'?
By Cliff Montgomery
According to a July speech by a top official at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the agency has yet to ensure
that federal, state, and local departments are working together in accordance with a coherent, fully-integrated 'Federal
Crisis Response' plan, more than five years after the 9/11 terror attacks.
According to Paul McHale, assistant Defense secretary for homeland defense, the 2006 National Response Plan--last
updated by the DHS in late May 2006, and which claims to be "a comprehensive all-hazards approach to enhance the
ability of the United States to manage domestic incidents"--isn't covering all the problems the government needs to fix.
This July, McHale said during a speech at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based, right-wing think tank, that the
Homeland Security Department still needs to ensure there is a coordinated federal response for each of 15 all-hazards
crisis scenarios developed by the White House Homeland Security Council in 2004. The scenarios outline major disasters
or attacks that the United States may face, especially with regard to chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incidents.
"We have got to come together in our interagency planning," McHale said.
McHale added he does not believe Congress needs to pass legislation to force that kind of integration. He acknowledged,
however, that own his office is seeking some legislative changes so the Defense Department can better carry out its
homeland defense missions, including the approval of a package containing about "a half dozen" recommendations for
legislative changes.
But one such planned change would provide Defense with a sustained funding source for having already strained and
over-worked National Guard troops carry out domestic missions, such as guarding critical infrastructure sites, McHale
said.
McHale followed this up with a firm statement that Defense is not seeking any changes to the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act,
which prohibits active-duty military personnel from performing domestic law enforcement activities.
We should watch out here: often in Washington, the one sure way to discover that someone wants to do away with a law
protecting American citizens if for politicians to openly declare that they don't want to do away with it at all...or worse, that
they only wish to "reform" it.
McHale said the department's response to Hurricane Katrina last year revealed problems which needed to be fixed, and
that this also regards the military's handling of domestic disasters.
For example, he said National Guard and active-duty forces were not integrated to the degree that they should have been.
"We had two stove-piped approaches," he said. "They ran along parallel, not intersecting, paths." Defense also had poor
coordination with search and rescue missions, and did not perform timely damage assessments.
Communications failures was another major problem, but McHale claimed the department will have "full inter-operability with
our communications" in the event of another catastrophe. He also reiterated that Defense has to be more quick to deploy
troops to help domestic law enforcement agencies control civil disorder.
This is true. But again, while order was quickly lost due solely to lack of planning from the Feds on down, the Defense
Department is to use the National Guard as a last resort. McHale may be coming very close to saying it should be used as
a first response--and that would be more dangerous to liberty than a few stolen television sets could ever be.
By Cliff Montgomery
According to a July speech by a top official at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the agency has yet to ensure
that federal, state, and local departments are working together in accordance with a coherent, fully-integrated 'Federal
Crisis Response' plan, more than five years after the 9/11 terror attacks.
According to Paul McHale, assistant Defense secretary for homeland defense, the 2006 National Response Plan--last
updated by the DHS in late May 2006, and which claims to be "a comprehensive all-hazards approach to enhance the
ability of the United States to manage domestic incidents"--isn't covering all the problems the government needs to fix.
This July, McHale said during a speech at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based, right-wing think tank, that the
Homeland Security Department still needs to ensure there is a coordinated federal response for each of 15 all-hazards
crisis scenarios developed by the White House Homeland Security Council in 2004. The scenarios outline major disasters
or attacks that the United States may face, especially with regard to chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incidents.
"We have got to come together in our interagency planning," McHale said.
McHale added he does not believe Congress needs to pass legislation to force that kind of integration. He acknowledged,
however, that own his office is seeking some legislative changes so the Defense Department can better carry out its
homeland defense missions, including the approval of a package containing about "a half dozen" recommendations for
legislative changes.
But one such planned change would provide Defense with a sustained funding source for having already strained and
over-worked National Guard troops carry out domestic missions, such as guarding critical infrastructure sites, McHale
said.
McHale followed this up with a firm statement that Defense is not seeking any changes to the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act,
which prohibits active-duty military personnel from performing domestic law enforcement activities.
We should watch out here: often in Washington, the one sure way to discover that someone wants to do away with a law
protecting American citizens if for politicians to openly declare that they don't want to do away with it at all...or worse, that
they only wish to "reform" it.
McHale said the department's response to Hurricane Katrina last year revealed problems which needed to be fixed, and
that this also regards the military's handling of domestic disasters.
For example, he said National Guard and active-duty forces were not integrated to the degree that they should have been.
"We had two stove-piped approaches," he said. "They ran along parallel, not intersecting, paths." Defense also had poor
coordination with search and rescue missions, and did not perform timely damage assessments.
Communications failures was another major problem, but McHale claimed the department will have "full inter-operability with
our communications" in the event of another catastrophe. He also reiterated that Defense has to be more quick to deploy
troops to help domestic law enforcement agencies control civil disorder.
This is true. But again, while order was quickly lost due solely to lack of planning from the Feds on down, the Defense
Department is to use the National Guard as a last resort. McHale may be coming very close to saying it should be used as
a first response--and that would be more dangerous to liberty than a few stolen television sets could ever be.