-Caveat Lector- Warner Wants to Boost Military Role http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-chairman- warner1113nov13,0,5308682.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dpolitics%2Dheadlines Email this story
Investigators By KEN GUGGENHEIM Associated Press Writer November 13, 2002, 3:41 AM EST WASHINGTON -- The senator likely to head the Armed Services Committee says Congress may need to break down some legal barriers that prevent soldiers from helping local officials during terrorist attacks and other national emergencies. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., said he would hold hearings to review the 19th century Posse Comitatus law that restricts the military's involvement in domestic law enforcement. "If local law enforcement is totally overwhelmed, would not the military be perhaps the best to help for that interim period until the local law enforcement can reconstitute itself?" Warner said in an interview Tuesday. In an overview of his priorities, Warner said he wants to help advance the use of unmanned airplanes, naval vessels and other vehicles. He also said he will continue to support President Bush's missile defense plans -- something that at times put him at odds with the committee's current chairman, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. About 18 months have passed since Warner last served as the committee's chairman. But the world has changed since then -- and so has Warner's priorities. The Sept. 11 attacks "must drive new thinking in the ranks of our military to where they can be working partners and of assistance to all of that vast infrastructure that we call homeland defense," he said. The legal separations between the military and law enforcement were in the spotlight recently when military planes were used to help police hunt for the Washington-area snipers. Warner said he would proceed cautiously in determining what changes, if any, were needed to those barriers. "I think it's very important that people in their civilian communities not view that the local military base is going to try to involve themselves in the law enforcement of that community," he said. Warner, a former Navy secretary, has served on the Armed Services Committee since his first term began in 1979 and was its chairman from 1998 until Democrats gained control of the Senate last year. His return to the chairman's position won't likely result in a drastic shift in priorities for the committee, analysts said. "It's not like there's been a great Democratic-Republican war that's about to end," said Gordon Adams, director of Security Policy Studies at George Washington University. Levin said he and Warner reached agreement on 98 percent of the issues before the committee and both stressed the need for bipartisan cooperation. "We've worked together very well, so that will continue," he said in an interview. Asked about the biggest changes he expects in the committee under Warner's leadership, Levin said: "Probably I would say we were more willing to be critical of some of the defense priorities in the administration than a Republican-led majority would be." Some of the differences may be more in personality. Warner is more formal and reserved than Levin. Warner alluded to the differences himself in a news release last month. After Levin issued a news release blaming the White House for delays in approving the defense authorization bill, Warner issued a three-paragraph response -- declining comment. "While I respect the opportunity to work with Chairman Levin over these many years, obviously we have a different style," the release said. * __ On the Net: Warner home page: http://warner.senate.gov/ Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press •How to Subscribe •How to Advertise •About Us •Contact Us By visiting this site you agree to the terms of the Newsday.com User Agreement. Read our Privacy Policy. Copyright © Newsday, Inc. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http://archive.jab.org/ctrl@;listserv.aol.com/ <A HREF="http://archive.jab.org/ctrl@;listserv.aol.com/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
