Ahhh... The U.S. Military

Please keep in mind that it's not the U.S. Military's idea to be in or stay in the war in Iraq. They are stuck with executing the president's wishes. Or whims. Or dogmatic policies.

What has become evident since Katrina is how extraordinarily capable the U.S. Military is of handling a major disaster. We need to use them more and quicker in that capacity. Every city that has an Air Force Base on the gulf coast knows what I'm talking about. Keesler AFB in Boluxi is a prime example. It was nearly wiped out. But noone was lost. They were so prepared for a disaster that they immediately proceeded to help out Boluxi with medical personnel and other capabilities. Every city on the gulf coast most likely wishes they had a military installation after Katrina. The military constantly drills for disasters, that's their job. It's also more difficult to "quit your job" in the military, personnel have more dedication also than many of their civilian counterparts. So when cutting bases in the U.S., think again about how valuable they are during a disaster. Everything you need after a disaster the military possesses. Command and control, chain of command, communications, speed, equipment, personnel, supplies, shelter, and more. We let the state's supremacy get in the way. It's absurd for states to have to "ask" the military to become involved. It should be automatic. And the leadership of the military is extremely more prepared to lead during a disaster. We should let them. Do we reallly think they're going to abuse their power during a disaster? Doubtful. All they want to do is help, and get the job done efficiently and quickly. State's rights during a disaster is overrated, as we saw during Katrina. Please congress, let's reevaluate and restructure disaster response, with a much larger role for the military.