Originally posted by WestPoint23
Obviously it would be utterly ridicules to call in the Military for a tropical storm or a weak hurricane, hence that is why you have FEMA. Let FEMA be
in charge of tasks they can handle. When a city of 1.4 million people is destroyed over night then I think that any reasonable person would understand
that's just way to much for FEMA, and the Military needs to be in charge when these types of events occur.
Exactly. Which is why President Bush, at a televised meeting discussing the reaction to recent natural disasters, stated that there needs to be a
discussion regarding the involvement of the military in response to certain natural disasters. He went on to question if there should be a
certain level, or threshold, that should determine when in fact the military should be deployed to a disaster area.
So let's not overreact and act as though Bush is saying "let's send in the troops everytime there's a hurricane." Because that's not what the
man is saying. I completely agree with him when he says there needs to be a discussion about this, both in Congress and amongst the American public.
I feel that those who have genuine concerns about the military being involved in these kinds of domestic operations should voice their opinions, and I
am confident that such concerns can and will be adressed. I think we can all agree that we need to be more prepared and do what is best for the
future victims of such disasters. We cannot, however, allow some people's fear of the military to prevent disaster victims from receiving the best
and most rapid response to their crisis in the future.
This is something that needs to be handled before another tragedy like Katrina comes along. That could be next week, or 10 years from now.
Regardless, we all need to come together in a national and bi-partisan effort to draft legislation that both adresses the concerns of military
involvement as well as adressing the concerns of the American people for their families.