November
19, 2006: There's some confusion in the United States over which government
agency would take the lead in responding to a major terrorist attack. There is
a lot of support for the Department of Defense taking the lead. At the moment,
DHS (Department of Homeland Security) is supposed to take the lead. For lots of
complex legal issues here, not to mention "cultural" ones many believe the task
should be assigned to the National Guard, since in most states it's well
integrated with the civilian emergency response system. If you bring in federal
military personnel, you run into posse comitatus (the law forbidding
active military from engaging in police functions), clashes between military
and first responder culture, and problems that may arise due to the military
commander's lack of local knowledge. For example, during the initial phases of
the 9/11 recovery operation, military commanders totally ignored the subways as
a way of moving troops and relief workers (so too did some upstate Guardsmen).
Nevertheless, creating a process by which the Department of Defense can act in
domestic situations would be immensely useful. But for the moment, the matter
is stuck in a morass of Washington politics, and may not be sorted out before
the feared disaster (a major terror attack) occurs.
