-Caveat Lector- >From Reuters, http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010509/pl/congress_threats_dc_6.html Wednesday May 9 4:50 PM ET If Terrorists Attack on U.S. Soil, Who's in Charge? By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) has given the Federal Emergency Management Agency (news - web sites) a lead role in dealing with a terrorist attack, but Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) said on Wednesday his department would be first in charge at the scene. The Justice Department (news - web sites) claimed control over the ``crisis'' stage immediately after a nuclear, biological or chemical weapon attack on U.S. soil. FEMA would lead the ``consequence'' stage dealing with the injured and damage to facilities. If the two stages overlapped, as was likely, Ashcroft said Justice would be in charge until the situation was out of ''crisis'' stage involving the investigation to find the culprit. The U.S. Senate is conducting three days of hearings this week on how prepared the United States is to deal with a ''terrorist'' act that used such weapons on its home turf. Forty-six agencies have responsibility for some piece of the issue, and the hearings are aimed at sorting out who does what, and how to better coordinate efforts. Despite the provocative subject of terrorism and a headliner witness list of top officials from major government agencies testifying, the hearings have focused mainly on the mundane minutia of bureaucracy. The question of who would be in charge of what and when remained a common theme in the hearings that started Tuesday. The government is scheduled to conduct a ``TOPOFF,'' which stands for ``Top Officials,'' in the fall of 2002. It is the biggest U.S. exercise to test response to a potential terrorist attack using weapons of mass destruction. The first such exercise was conducted in May 2000. ``In these exercises with TOPOFF there were tremendous turf fights,'' Sen. Pat Roberts (news - bio - voting record), a Kansas Republican, said. ``There has to be a clear doctrine and understanding at what point does the chain of command, or that jurisdiction or that responsibility change?'' he said. Roberts said he agreed with FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh's testimony on Tuesday that ``the first order of business is to save lives, of course.'' ``When an event occurs, which is a terrorist event with a weapon of mass destruction ... when ATF arrives, FBI (news - web sites) arrives, FEMA arrives and the National Guard arrives, who's in charge?'' Sen. Judd Gregg (news - bio - voting record), a New Hampshire Republican, asked. ATF is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms under Treasury Department (news - web sites) jurisdiction; the FBI is under the Justice Department; and the National Guard is under states' authority. ``The Justice Department is in charge, and we've been very successful in previous events of getting our people on the scene quite early,'' Ashcroft replied. FEMA, which handles the aftermath of natural disasters such as tornadoes, would take charge of ``consequence management'' involving injured people and structure damage. ``But we do not expect to yield that responsibility and control until the considerations of crisis management, including the investigative aspects of solving the responsibility question, have been completed,'' Ashcroft said. Bush on Tuesday said FEMA would create a new Office of National Preparedness to coordinate all federal programs on weapons of mass destruction consequence management. ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: *Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends ================================================================= <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:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>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
