Pentagon, Lawmakers Resist Greater Military Role in Disasters

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Pentagon, Lawmakers Resist Greater Military Role in Disasters

Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Former top U.S. military officials and lawmakers from both parties are resisting President George W. Bush's suggestion that active-duty troops take a lead role in responding to natural disasters.

Pentagon officials such as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also are cool to the idea, said Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. ``I've spoken to people in the White House who say that Rumsfeld is really resisting,'' King, a New York Republican, said in an interview yesterday.

One issue is what Bush's proposal might mean to armed forces already heavily engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan. ``The military right now is extremely stretched,'' said retired Admiral William Crowe, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. ``If you have to train for it and make them into policemen and firemen, that will be a major distraction.''

There's danger of a political backlash in changing the 127- year-old U.S. law that bars federal troops from law-enforcement, said retired Army General John Shalikashvili, also a former Joint Chiefs chairman. ``I don't think the American people are ready for the U.S. military to do law enforcement,'' he said.