I am not joking.
The headline says it all:
Bush Wants Right to Use Military if Bird Flu Hits
President George W. Bush asked Congress on Tuesday to consider giving him powers to use the military to enforce quarantines in case of an avian influenza epidemic.
He said the military, and perhaps the National Guard, might be needed to take such a role if the feared H5N1 bird flu virus changes enough to cause widespread human infection.
``If we had an outbreak somewhere in the United States, do we not then quarantine that part of the country? And how do you, then, enforce a quarantine?'' Bush asked at a news conference.
``It's one thing to shut down airplanes. It's another thing to prevent people from coming in to get exposed to the avian flu. And who best to be able to effect a quarantine?'' Bush added.
``One option is the use of a military that's able to plan and move. So that's why I put it on the table. I think it's an important debate for Congress to have.''
[snip]
He noted that some governors may object to the federal government commandeering the National Guard, which is under state command in most circumstances.
So commandeering the National Guard during the Katrina disaster was a nice practice exercise, I suppose, right?
Even more disturbing, and ominous, is this (namely the part I've highlighted in bold):
The active duty military is currently forbidden from undertaking law enforcement duties by the federal Posse Comitatus Act.
That law, passed in 1878 after the U.S. Civil War, does not prohibit National Guard troops under state control from doing police work. But, unless the law is changed, it would keep them from doing so if he [sic] Gulf region, Bush had asked Congress to consider giving the military control over initial response in dealing with major natural or other domestic disasters.
Jesus. Would he really do this? Would Congress actually consider it?
9/11 meant that the DOJ could use the USA PATRIOT Act to do whatever they wanted. And a flu pandemic might just give Bush the chance to put the country under military control.
Using disasters to further your agenda, George. We wouldn't expect anything less.
[editor's note, by Plutonium Page] Don't forget, it's Pandemic Flu Awareness Week. Visit the Flu Wiki often, and bloggers, use their resources to blog about bird flu. The more accurate information people have, the better off we'll be.