NEWS: Bush Wants To Use American Military To Curb Bird Flu

Speaking at a Rose Garden Press Conference, President Bush outlined his idea to use the U.S Military if and when a Avian Flu pandemic occurs. Bush envisions the military quarantining areas where the deadly flu virus has been found. He claimed that aggressive action needs to be taken to ensure that the impact of the pandemic is contained. "The president ought to have all ... assets on the table to be able to deal with something this significant," he said. However, Dr. Irwin Redlener, associate dean of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and director of its National Center for Disaster Preparedness, claims the idea is an "extraordinarily draconian measure" and that "the translation of this is martial law in the United States,".



Dr. Redlener's concerns stem from a feasibilty standpoint, not merely from the civil liberties aspect. He claims that the Presidents proposed idea will not help stem the Avian Flu pandemic. He said that the move would be unecessary if the country had increased its capacity to rapidly produce vaccines, ensured a large stockpile of ant-virals such as Tamiflu, and not allowed the degradation of the public health system.

From the orginally news article
Bush signed an executive order in April adding pandemic influenza to the government's list of communicable diseases for which a quarantine is authorized.

A bandaid solution to a massive hemorrhage? You be the judge

[edit on 4/10/05 by subz]

I'd be fine with the military helping combat the flu by setting up centers were you could get vaccinations or tamiflu, but effecting quarantines sounds a little frightening.

Also, could someone explain to me how exactly you effectively quarantine pandemic influenza?

-koji K.

I thought that to, it wouldnt be a pandemic if it was quarantined

Pandemic literally means "lots of people over a wide area"

I can't say I much like the sound of this proposal. Perhaps use the military to help disperse anti-viral agents to the population through mobile vaccination centers or something, but enforce quarantines sounds dangerously like it could entail shooting civilians, or some such thing and I don't want to ever see that happen.

Nope, the more I think about this, the more I'm against it.

[edit on 4-10-2005 by Astronomer68]

And people will go in FEMA camps? HAHAHA in 2-3 years, we will not have any more civil rights and the army will be in the street. No no, this isn't martial law, is to protect you from the terrorists and the bird flu! Yeah, that's it!

A Cue From History

Every police state in history was created in response to some sort of "emergency" or another.

I do not trust the President with this sort of power, and neither should Congress or the Supreme Court.

I see no legitimate rationale for using U.S. troops under federal control as domestic police officers. We've been down that road before, and I strongly advise against going back.

I oppose this proposal and am suspicious of the motives behind it.

Bush has way too much power already.

The only true reason for increasing it is to end representative government in this country.

I will not support this in any form.

Good thing Alex Jones is a crack point, or this post would make absolutely no sense...

Originally posted by ThichHeaded
Good thing Alex Jones is a crack point, or this post would make absolutely no sense...

eh? Have I missed something?

No, I am just being sarcastically stupid in a right way.

AJ has been talking about this for about 3 or so yrs since I have been listening to him, how we would be put in these so called FEMA camps and we would lose our rights and whatever..

Its just interesting that he was so much on crack that this post makes absolutely no sense.. its just an ironic twist of fate.....

Thats all.. No offense to you man..

The part in bold is not to be sarcastic one bit..

Oh none taken. I just didnt know what you meant with Alex Jones. Now I do, thanks

OH DUCKIE!!! Another cynical grab for power by a power hungry (can anyone spell pathologically insecure) dictator wannabe (after all he did say America would be easier to govern if it was a dictatorship so long as HE was the dictator)...like he really cares whether people get this flu or not...The military would be the absolutely WRONG choice for this type of work...unfortunately the republicans dismantled The Public Health Service which was created for just this type of thing. When are people going to wake up about this dangerous man?

Using the military to contain an outbreak works fine in isolated places, lets say 25 towns in the Midwest, for instance. You would fly in troops with choppers intially, so perhaps 10 could transport enough troops to ring a town. 25 towns x 10 Hueys= 250 helicopters ferrying 300 x 25 men with guns=7,500 soldiers.
Now thats little burgs with just a few people...easy to contain, but still, the resources needed are huge. People within those quaranteed areas have legs and they will try to walk out if they want to. You are going to have a difficult time convincing young Fred to stay in town when the love of his life lives on a farm 10 miles east. The town would need to be encircled with a ring of troops.

On to the big cities...say, Cleveland...how does the military keep that many people quarantined? Now, how about 25 cities across the midwest?

Avian flu will show up in hundreds of villages, towns and cities all over America at virtually the same time...that's why they call it a pandemic.

IMO, the fact that the POTUS looks to the military to contain a pandemic can only be seen two ways... that he is not knowledgeable about H5N1 and how it spreads (which I doubt because the CDC must have informed him) or that it is his intention to place the American people under martial law and he's looking for an excuse.

***VACCINE WARNING*** DO NOT TAKE THE VACCINE WHEN IT IS OFFERRED!!! DO NOT TAKE ANY VACCINE! EVER!

The military's proper role is to win wars. The military should not be used for anything else. The problem is that the military is heavily funded while most other government programs are cut. With more more money, the military starts taking on civilian responsibilities.

Read the "Coup of 2012" www.dtic.mil... which was written as a warning in 1992. Where is the US headed?

The whole scenario is terrifying. Containment, as in imprisonment seems to be the common solution for all problems, foreign and domestic.
When does the revolution start? We have to nip this in the bud!

Originally posted by Solidus Snake
***VACCINE WARNING*** DO NOT TAKE THE VACCINE WHEN IT IS OFFERRED!!! DO NOT TAKE ANY VACCINE! EVER!

Why is that??? please tell us!!

QUARANTINE WON'T WORK.


The real plan is about establishing military rule to protect corporate feudalism - and it won't stop with bird flu "quarantines." Quarantine is just a cover story - quarantines won't work for bird flu.


From: WHO Pushes for Bird Flu Vaccine Production. Posted on 10-3-2005

Bird flu can be transmitted in a variety of different ways: between animals, birds and humans via physical contact or droplets in the air; in feces and urine and therefor, in water and soil and from contaminated surfaces. More to the point, the virus apparently can survive an unusually long time without a host.

For example, British microbiologist Professor Hugh Pennington is urging a ban on poultry feathers from China because of possible contamination with the H5N1 bird flu virus.

Feather pillows may carry Asian bird flu

Poultry feathers imported from China to make products such as pillows could carry the avian flu virus, says a British microbiologist who is urging the British Government to consider banning them.

Presumably to protect the nation's poultry industry, the CDC skims right over the fact that bird flu is present in the meat of infected birds, including ducks and chickens. The CDC "fact sheet" also neglects to mention that this flu strain can present with gastrointestinal symptoms, and without other "typical" flu symptoms.

We report the first case of avian influenza in a patient with fever and diarrhea but no respiratory symptoms. Avian influenza should be included in the differential diagnosis for patients with predominantly gastrointestinal symptoms, particularly if they have a history of exposure to poultry.

Atypical avian influenza (H5N1). Emerg Infect Dis. 2004 Jul;10(7):1321-4. Apisarnthanarak A, Kitphati R, Thongphubeth K, Patoomanunt P, Anthanont P, Auwanit W, Thawatsupha P, Chittaganpitch M, Saeng-Aroon S, Waicharoen S, Apisarnthanarak P, Storch GA, Mundy LM, Fraser VJ. Thammasart University Hospital, Klong Luang, Pratumthani, Thailand. PMID: 15324560

***

From Patriot Act II. Update. Posted on 2-3-2005


......the stage is set for NORTHCOM to implement quarantines for whatever ails US safety and security. Federal officials have been brushing off old quarantine laws and urging states to do the same for the past four years. Camps already exist.

"After the 2001 anthrax attacks, U.S. officials urged states to update old quarantine laws."

www.charlotte.com...


U.S. CONCENTRATION CAMPS

Quarantine is politically useful and expedient - but it's completely ineffective against most modern diseases. Not only are modern diseases different, but quarantine never works if you don't clean the barn. In this case, the barn is the whole planet.

"Dr. Keiji Fukuda, an influenza expert at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.But Fukuda said H5N1 was spreading so fast and so far that traditional efforts to control it - culling, vaccinating and quarantining flocks - would not always work.

Bird flu may be in Asia to stay, officials fear

Government Plans for Flu Epidemic: Update
WHO warns of bird flu pandemic
Russian Expert Fears Flu Epidemic May Kill Over A Billion People This Year.
Bush Pushes Wrong Flu Vaccine to American People

An ounce of prevention is worth a whole platoon of jackbooted thugs... why does Plan A consist of "put the nation on lockdown, and shoot the ones that don't like it"?

I have another great old saying for you, that applies here.

Ask forgiveness, not permission...

If a situation comes up that would be benefited by Military control, it should be done, whether supported by law, or not...

if it is a valid reason, then we wont hassle the pres for chosing it...(such as the Katrina situation)

if it isn't a good reason, then we will still have the law to support an investigation and arrest of whoever violated our rights...

why is this so hard to figure out?
do we need to grant power for every little thing? nope, as katrina can testify...

Those who sell out there freedoms for fear and false sense of security deserve no freedom at all.

People are so naive, complacent and gullible to actually wave there rights and let congress lay the foundations to eliminate said rights, all because some bird flu killed 60 chicken farmers in Asia. Unf'ingbelivable!

Bird flu my arse, this is about setting up a military backed dictatorship and who the hell cares if your a healthy prisoner.