Pentagon Not Ready to Respond to Attack in US, Study Says

An independent panel has told Congress the Pentagon isn’t prepared to respond to a chemical, biological or nuclear attack on US soil. Are the wars overseas to blame?

Reuters’ Kristin Roberts says the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves has found that while the Defense Department is conducting “exhaustive planning for operations overseas, its planning for possible action inside the United States in response to attacks is inadequate.”

“We looked at their plans. They’re totally unacceptable,” commission chairman Arnold Punaro, a retired Marine Corps major general, told Congress. “You couldn’t move a Girl Scout unit with the kind of planning they’re doing.”

“While other federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, are responsible for pieces of the government’s response to an attack, the Defense Department is the only agency with the resources and capabilities to manage the overall response,” Roberts says.

The commission also said the National Guard and Reserve should be ordered to lead the Defense Department’s activities in that arena because those part-time troops live throughout the US and often have skills needed in an emergency.