Bush's Martial Plan

The specter of an avian flu epidemic has caught President Bush’s attention evidently. He’s planning ahead for what he thinks might be needed in the event of a pandemic. If I were thinking ahead for such an eventuality, my mind might turn towards increasing supplies of Tamiflu or other potentially effective anti-viral drugs. Or maybe looking to expand our capability to rapidly produce vaccines. Or look at what could be done to better prepare hospitals and public health clinics to cope with catastrophe.

But none of that is on President Bush’s mind. In the event of an avian flu pandemic, his thoughts turn to the military. He wants to be able to deploy military troops to enforce quarantines. In other words, Bush wants to be able to declare martial law in the event of a pandemic.

Bush is no Boy Scout; “Be Prepared” is not in his lexicon. It’s clear that the only lesson he learned from Katrina is not that investing in infrastructure is important, but that if you bring in the guns more quickly, there’s less likely to be any pesky pictures on television.