Bush Wants Right
To Use Military
If Bird Flu Hits
By Charles Aldinger
05 October, 2005
Planet
Ark
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."
Bird flu has killed
more than 60 people in four Asian nations since late 2003 and has been
found in birds in Russia and Europe.
Experts fear that
the H5N1 bird flu virus, which appears to be highly fatal when it infects
people, will develop the ability to pass easily from person to person
and would cause a pandemic that would kill millions.
"And I think
the president ought to have all ... assets on the table to be able to
deal with something this significant," Bush said.
He noted that some
governors may object to the federal government commandeering the National
Guard, which is under state command in most circumstances.
POLICE DUTIES BANNED
"But Congress
needs to take a look at circumstances that may need to vest the capacity
of the president to move beyond that debate. And one such catastrophe
or one such challenge could be an avian flu outbreak," Bush said.
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 US 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 they were activated by Washington
under federal control.
While the law allows
the president to order the military to take control and do police work
in an extreme emergency, the White House has been traditionally reluctant
to usurp state powers.
Pentagon spokesman
Bryan Whitman told reporters he was not aware of any current planning
by the military to help respond to a flu pandemic.
But he noted that
after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf region, Bush had
asked Congress to consider giving the military control over initial
response in dealing with major natural or other domestic disasters.
"Obviously
the (Defense) Department has a tremendous amount of capability in a
lot of areas. And we are a large force," Whitman said, noting also
that the military had deployed field hospitals to Louisiana after the
hurricanes.
Health experts are
working to develop vaccines that would protect against the H5N1 strain
of flu, because current influenza vaccines will not.
And countries are
also developing stockpiles of drugs that can reduce the risk of serious
disease or even sometimes prevent infection -- but supplies and manufacturing
capacity are both limited.
Bush said he was
involved in planning for an influenza pandemic, which experts say will
definitely come, although they cannot predict when, or whether it will
be H5N1 or some other virus.
(Additional reporting
by Maggie Fox)