gasp!
Orwell anyone?
From the Los Angeles Times
THE NATION
President Cites Flu Epidemic Risk, Suggests Role for Troops
By Warren Vieth
Times Staff Writer
Published October 5, 2005
WASHINGTON - President Bush expressed concern Tuesday about the threat of a global flu epidemic and said Congress should consider letting the U.S. military play a broader role in enforcing quarantines and other emergency measures.
Flu pandemics have tended to occur about three times a century, after the emergence of viruses to which humans have developed no immunity.
World health authorities have become increasingly alarmed by the pandemic potential of a lethal strain of avian flu called H5N1, which has killed millions of birds and about 60 people who came into contact with them since it was detected in Asia in 1997. Scientists have cited initial signs that the virus might be mutating into a form that could spread rapidly from human to human and possibly trigger a pandemic.
Asked about avian flu during a White House news conference, Bush said the risk of an outbreak was great enough to justify a more aggressive preparedness campaign.
Part of the planning should focus on the federal government's authority to take any steps needed to contain a flu contagion, including local or regional quarantines, Bush said.
Bush said one option would be deploying the military to provide the rapid command and control measures required to deal with a pandemic. He asked Congress to consider producing legislation to expand the federal role.
Doing so would require changing laws that restrict the role of active-duty troops in domestic emergencies, a possibility raised by the government's problematic responses to hurricanes Katrina and Rita.