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Bush Urges Shift in Relief Responsibilities
President Bush visits a FEMA office with Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco.
(By Susan Walsh -- Associated Press)
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However, active-duty troops generally cannot take on domestic law enforcement roles, which is what many experts said was desperately needed to stop the rioting and violence in the streets of New Orleans after Katrina hit. National Guard troops under state control are allowed to take on law enforcement responsibilities.
At Randolph Air Force Base, Maj. Gen. John White urged the president to create a national plan to better coordinate search-and-rescue efforts after major disasters. White said one glaring example of planning errors was when five helicopters showed up at the same time to rescue one person in New Orleans.
"That's the sort of simplistic thing we'd like to avoid," White said to Bush. "That was a train wreck that we saw in New Orleans."
"Part of the reason I've come down here, and part of the reason I went to Northcom, was to better understand how the federal government can plan and surge equipment, to mitigate natural disasters," Bush said. "It's precisely the kind of information that I'll take back to Washington to help all of us understand how we can do a better job in coordinating federal, state and local response."
Bush met this weekend with officials in Colorado Springs at the headquarters of the U.S. Northern Command, before traveling to Austin, San Antonio and Baton Rouge, La.
Defense officials in Washington have been closely examining the Katrina response to see how the military can better react to similar disasters, especially in terms of supporting local "first responders" such as police, fire paramedic and hazardous-materials officials in the event a crisis renders them ineffective.
Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, said last week that the department will be looking at "more realistic training exercises so that we can more effectively address a catastrophic event that similarly degrades or destroys the local first responder community," and that there needs to be an emphasis on communications and damage assessment. He also said the active-duty military and the National Guard need to work together more closely.
White reported from Washington. Staff writer Spencer S. Hsu in Washington contributed to this report.
