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Dec. 2, 2008

Melanie Phillips: The Mumbai atrocity is a wake-up call for a frighteningly unprepared world

Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report: Strategic Motivations for the Mumbai Attack

Dec. 1, 2008

Max Freidlander, as told to Jacklyn C. Wadler: India Inkings

Mark Steyn: Whodunit!?

Nov. 28, 2008

Rabbi Ahron Rapps: An evil seed that didn't have to be

Melanie Phillips: Carpe diem --- or can we all relax now?

Nov. 26, 2008

Michael Feldberg: Meet the Orthodox Jew who laid groundwork for scientific development of ordnance that undergirds America's current world leadership

Andrea Simantov: Shades of life

Nov. 25, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Getting Emotional For Influence

The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman : Thanksiving feast!

Nov. 24, 2008

Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg: 'I just Became a grandchild!'

Barry Rubin: Don't flatter your enemies, protect your friends

Nov. 21, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Money matters?

Caroline B. Glick: Civilization walks the plank

Nov. 20, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bronfman's blindness

The Kosher Gourmet By Linda Gassenheimer: Portobellos add a hearty flavor to pasta with pesto

Nov, 19, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Spread the wealth? Jewish tradition and income equality

Elliot B. Gertel: 'Mad Men': Tackling prejudices or reinforcing them?

Nov, 18, 2008

Dr. Debby Schwarz Hirschhorn: The End of the Age of Reason

Jonathan Tobin: Does Barack + Bibi = Disaster?

Nov, 17, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The End of the Age of Reason

Diana West: Gulling Americans into making terror legit?

Nov, 14, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: The Power of Spiritual Inertia

Caroline B. Glick: The perils ahead

Nov, 13, 2008

Stratfor Intelligence Briefing: How Bush and Obama together could change the Middle East dynamic

The Kosher Gourmet by JeanMarie Brownson: Sweet and savory, crispy and meltingly tender bestilla

Nov, 12, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Tyrannical Co-Workers

Michael Doyle: High Court to consider today donated monuments that may have religious messages in public parks

Nov, 11, 2008

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Will Obama stop government officials considering institutionalizing financial jihad?

Jonathan Tobin: They Will Decide Their Own Fate

Nov, 10, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: $8 billion, modern-day Tower of Babel being built?

Barry Rubin: A letter to the president-elect from a Middle East realist

Nov, 7, 2008

Rabbi Francis Nataf: Of Children and Immortality

Caroline B. Glick: Livni's Obama strategy

Nov, 6, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: How I tricked a classroom of apathetic students into grasping the fallacy of moral relativism

The Kosher Gourmet By Gina Kim: Tips for making the perfect soup --- includes recipes

Nov, 5, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Destitute Debtors

Bruce Weinstein: 'Religulos': Bad title,even worse movie

Nov, 4, 2008

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Treasury Dept. submits to Shariah law

Frida Ghitis: A surprise for Obama in the Middle East

Nov, 3, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: Who says Jews are Smart?

Jonathan Tobin: Was He Wrong About Everything?

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Sept. 30, 2005 / 26 Elul, 5765

Don't militarize disaster relief

By Rich Lowry


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Nobody looked good during the Katrina response, except the U.S. military. In keeping with Washington's habit of always fixing yesterday's problem in ways that might cause trouble tomorrow, the military's star performance in Katrina means that it might get the lead role in any significant natural disaster in the future.

Democrats have long clamored for more "first responders." Well, now they are about to get 1.4 million of them. President Bush has said that the lesson from Katrina is that we need "a broader role for the armed forces — the institution of our government most capable of massive logistical operations on a moment's notice."

Instead of using the military as a last resort in such large-scale disasters, the administration is considering going to it first and removing legal obstacles to such a role. This is a seductive but mistaken idea.

The military's response to Katrina was impressive, especially compared with the Department of Homeland Security. Like the pope in Stalin's barb, the DHS has no "divisions," and is a ramshackle product of the biggest bureaucratic reorganization in 50 years. "It can be viable," an administration official says of the department, "but not in this decade."

So the DHS is on the outs. For such a bold crew, the Bush administration has shown a remarkable ability to be buffeted by the latest fads. It was against the creation of a homeland-security department, before it was for it. It was against the 9/11 commission, before it was for it. It was lukewarm on implementing the 9/11 commission's recommendation of a pointless reorganization of the intelligence bureaucracy, before it was for it. Now it is for the latest hot new idea — militarization of disaster relief — to make up for the deficiencies of the last hot new idea, the DHS.

Of course, the military has crept further into disaster response already, since we face the specter of massive terrorist acts on our shores. But a terror attack is an act of war, whereas a hurricane is an act of G-d. The latter is a purely domestic matter in a way that the former isn't.

The current obstacles to calling on federal troops are hardly insurmountable. A governor can simply ask for them, as Gov. Pete Wilson did in 1992 during the L.A. riots. The problem in New Orleans was that Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco wouldn't ask.

Even in this situation, the president has awesome powers. Bush could have invoked the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to go over Blanco's head to use troops to quell the unrest; it just would have been politically risky for him. That's not such a bad thing.

Such speed bumps are useful in a political system that values checks on governmental power. If we wanted simply the most efficient government possible, we wouldn't have federalism and the U.S. Congress in the first place.

Are state and local government always feckless? Not necessarily. No one accuses Florida Gov. Jeb Bush of mishandling hurricanes. If the people of a state tolerate corruption and inefficiency, and elect governors and mayors who are distinguished only by their lack of distinction, they can expect disarray in a pinch. The military doesn't exist to save people from the consequences of self-government. Otherwise, we could appoint Lt. Gen. Russel Honore governor of Louisiana and leave it at that.

Yes, the military is extraordinary. But the very qualities that make it so — the discipline, the organization, the precision — are forged because it must deal with the most trying of human experiences: combat. The mission defines the organization. If the mission changes, the organization will as well, and the qualities that make the military so enviable will be bleached away.

Is the DHS dysfunctional? Make it work. Do we need better first responders? Train police and firefighters to higher standards. Is coordination between the levels of government inadequate? Fix it.

Don't look to the military as a cure-all just because it's an institution that, at the moment, the nation's political leadership hasn't botched.

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© 2005 King Features Syndicate

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