US plays down domestic army use

Expanding US military authority has met with criticism

America's Director of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, has played down the possibility that the military may be used for domestic law enforcement following the 11 September attacks.

Ridge: Favours amending, not overturning law

His statement follows US President George W Bush's plea to Congress to reconsider a law dating back to the 19th century that forbids US forces from participating in arrests, seizures and searches on US soil that domestic police forces usually carry out.

The senate is currently considering legislation to set up Mr Bush's proposed Department of Homeland Security, which Tom Ridge would head.

Speaking on US news channel Fox News, Mr Ridge said that despite the review it was "very unlikely" that the law would be completely overturned.

"[It] goes against our instincts as a country to empower the military with the ability to arrest," he said.

'Emergency situations'

The "Posse Comitatus" or county posse act was passed in the Reconstruction era following US Civil War in the 1860s, and expressly forbade the use of the army, navy, air force and marines in domestic police investigations.

However some US senators, despite agreeing with the review, have been reluctant to favour a law that would grant the military the power to arrest its own citizens, saying they saw no reason to alter the law as it stands.

"[Posse Comitatus] has served us well for a long time," said Democrat Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"It's kept the military out of law enforcement, out of arresting people except in the most unusual emergency situations like a riot or after some kind of a disaster where they have to protect against looting."

Civil rights concerns

Most senators favour a form of compromise that would permit an amendment to the existing law to allow armed forces to aid domestic forces in a supportive role in the event that another terror attack was carried out on US soil.

"(The law) has to be amended, but we're not talking about general police power," Senator Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Fox News.

Attempts to grant the military or government greater powers over its citizens following the events of 11 September have met with stiff opposition from civil rights groups and state governments.

They fear their power and autonomy may be undermined by the federal authorities.