Dated December,2003.
Given that local authorities throughout the United States have said that they have neither the money nor the manpower to protect our borders properly, I prefer to see the military involved to leaving them unguarded. Of course, in a crisis, power struggles over who is in charge are bound to arise. Hopefully these issues have been addressed.
Fears of a miltary "takeover" are a bit paranoid especially since most of our forces are out of the country.