Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President Bush had what amounted to a blank check in terms of public opinion to do what was necessary to protect and defend the United States of America.
With his plan nearly to double the size of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a totally ineffectual and unconstitutional bureaucracy that should instead be shut down tout de suite, the president is squandering that mandate and demonstrating he does not understand the concept of defense.
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Under Bush's plan, FEMA will recruit and train an army of 400,000 Citizen Corps volunteers in medical care and other skills to be at the ready for the next possible terrorist attack, says Director Joe M. Allbaugh.
FEMA is gearing up for massive recruitment efforts for the volunteers and to dispense a massive $3.5 billion in grants to local emergency agencies unveiled in Bush's new budget proposal.
Allbaugh says Bush's 2003 security plan will virtually transform FEMA and double its budget to $6.5 billion, making it the "go-to agency" for helping state and local governments prepare for terrorist attacks and other emergencies. This would be the largest federally led "volunteer" effort since the air-raid wardens of World War II and will enlist the outpouring of private citizens eager to take part in the defense of their country.
Allbaugh says FEMA is dedicated to a central and expanding role to make America ready if and when the next disaster hits. The agency will do this, he says, by redistributing taxpayer dollars to states and local governments. He says he does not want the money "sucked up" by bureaucracies. But he also acknowledges there is no plan, no guidelines, no rules established for the doling out of these grants.
In other words, get the money first, then worry about the details.
Let me tell you why this is such a bad idea.
America has been attacked. It's the first time this has happened since Pearl Harbor. The attacks show we, as a nation, are vulnerable. Yet, we are not preparing to defend ourselves, we are getting ready to put Band-Aids on the boo-boos after they occur!
Real defense isn't comforting the victims. Real defense means protecting the lives of Americans before the attacks come.
If you have any doubts that FEMA is out to lunch with regard to such plans, I refer you to the January issue of Whistleblower magazine and, specifically, the interview of a top FEMA official by my wife, Elizabeth Farah.
You will learn in that interview that civil defense – meaning defense of the civilian population of America – was "phased out in 1993," according to FEMA Public Affairs Director John Czwartacki. Since then, he explains, "we haven't had any kind of programs" designed to protect U.S. citizens from attack.
Who would be in charge in the event of a nuclear detonation by terrorists in, say, New York City? The FEMA official says the Office of Homeland Security.
But that's a new office with no budget, no plan and no resources. Nevertheless, we learn, FEMA would only be prepared to bring in the body bags. That's the long and the short of it.
It is truly astounding. It's worth the single-copy price of $7.50 all by itself. It is an interview that should be read by every American. And the larger issue of "real defense" is dealt with through the special issue.
Defense in Washington has come to mean two things:
- Sending troops to fight bad guys around the world.
- Doling out grants after we're hit with violence at home.
Not a dime of your hard-earned tax dollars is actually being spent on protecting you, your children, your family, your neighborhood, your town. That's what defense is all about. It means shelters from the inevitable attacks by nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. It means anti-missile batteries. It means stockpiling of food and medicine. It means radiation monitors. It means civilian evacuation drills. It means securing our borders from infiltration by potential terrorists. It means arming pilots and airline crews. It means arming Americans and encouraging them to be more self-reliant.
FEMA's plans don't include any of this. It is a reactive agency, not a pro-active one.
Bush is about to blow it. Let him know it.
Order the special January issue of Whistleblower, "America Defenseless."