Decius wrote:

The Secretary "is reviewing a wide range of possible changes in the way the
military could be used in domestic emergencies," Di Rita said Friday.
He said these included "possible changes in the relationship between
federal and state military authorities." Di Rita called the Posse
Comitatus Act "very archaic," and stated that it limited the Pentagon's
flexibility in responding.

I was thinking about this as I watched events unfold in New Orleans. I wanted the military to respond, but in the back of my mind I was concerned about the legal implications of that. I think the right way to handle this is to have federal first responders with security capability, perhaps organized by FEMA. There is a totally different tone that you take with domestic catastrophies versus enemies in war, even when people are rioting or shooting at rescue teams, and it is appropriate to have a rapid response capability that is properly trained to handle domestic threats.

It's a sticky discussion, true. Based on my reading, is seems like the military units in NO, both Guard and active duty, were, on the average, both more useful and more pleasant to deal with than the local authorities. I almost hate to say it, but if my options in an emergency are a local cop with a superiority complex or a squad of soldiers with M16's, I'll take the latter. Still the implications are somewhat disturbing.

RE: [Politech] How the Bush administration is eroding Posse Comitatus