Katrina blame game

[saintjohn]

While many critics seem more interested in playing partisan politics than in helping storm victims, at least some observers are honestly trying to assess what went wrong in order to both improve the current situation and to prevent future mistakes. From what I've seen so far, a lot of people should be held accountable for this mess. This how the Ron Fournier of the Associated Press sees it:

WASHINGTON (AP) - At every turn, political leaders failed Katrina's victims. They didn't strengthen the levees. They ceded the streets to marauding looters. They left dead bodies to rot or bloat. Thousands suffered or died for lack of water, food and hope. Who's at fault?

There's plenty of blame to go around - the White House, Congress, federal agencies, local governments, police and even residents of the Gulf Coast who refused orders to evacuate. But all the finger-pointing misses the point: Politicians and the people they lead too often ignore danger signs until a crisis hits.

It wasn't a secret that levees built to keep New Orleans from flooding could not withstand a major hurricane, but government leaders never found the money to fully shore up the network of earthen, steel and concrete barriers.

Both the Bush and Clinton administrations proposed budgets that low-balled the needs. Local politicians grabbed whatever money they could and declared victory. And the public didn't exactly demand tax increases to pay for flood-control and hurricane-protection projects.

Just last year, the Army Corps of Engineers sought $105 million for hurricane and flood programs in New Orleans. The White House slashed the request to about $40 million. Congress finally approved $42.2 million, less than half of the agency's request.

Yet the lawmakers and Bush agreed to a $286.4 billion pork-laden highway bill that included more than 6,000 pet projects for lawmakers. Congress spent money on dust control for Arkansas roads, a warehouse on the Erie Canal and a $231 million bridge to a small, uninhabited Alaskan island.

How could Washington spend $231 million on a bridge to nowhere - and not find $42 million for hurricane and flood projects in New Orleans? It's a matter of power and politics.

Alaska is represented by Republican Rep. Don Young, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, and Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, a senior member of the all-important Senate Appropriations Committee. Louisiana's delegation holds far less sway.

Once the hurricane hit, relief trickled into the Gulf Coast. Even Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael Brown, whose agency is in charge of disaster response, pronounced the initial results unacceptable.

The hurricane was the first major test of FEMA since it became part of the Homeland Security Department, a massive new bureaucracy that many feared would make the well-respected FEMA another sluggish federal agency.

Looting soon broke out as local police stood by. Some police didn't want to stop people from getting badly needed food and water. Others seemed to be overwhelmed. Thousands of National Guard troops were ordered to the Gulf Coast, but their ranks have been drastically thinned by the war in Iraq.

On top of all this, Katrina is one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit the United States. The best leaders running the most efficient agencies would have been sharply challenged.

"Look at all they've had to deal with," former President Clinton told CNN shortly after joining former President Bush on a fundraising campaign for hurricane relief. "I'm telling you, nobody every thought it would happen like this."

That's not true. Experts had predicted for years that a major hurricane would eventually hit New Orleans, swamping the levees and filling the bowl-shaped city with polluted water. The politicians are doing what they do in time of crisis - shifting the blame.

Read the rest here:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050901/D8CBNMA88.html

[slamminshaun]

A bulk of the blame should be with Louisiana's governor. If this had happened in Florida, Jeb Bush would have been crucified by now. Here's the difference, Louisiana's governor is a DEMOCRAT. You see, the media will assign blame anywhere they can, but leave the democrats out of it.

The governor is the top law enforcement job in the state. Why was she not prepared for the lawlessness that followed the storm? She knew there was a Cat 5 storm out there, yet she did NOTHING. It's not like they didn't have time to prepare. Jeb Bush made sure we were all taken care of here when the two storms ransacked my area last year. Law and order prevailed. This governor is so incompetent. She did not ask for the proper help even though she knew she would need it. She had plenty of time to prepare, yet squandered it. She is INCOMPETENT, and is looking to the media to assign the blame to the President.

Newsflash, Bush is not the state's governor. It's up the governor to govern their own state and ask for appropriate help. Yet, this governor did NOTHING of the sort until it was way too late. I bet most of you cannot name Louisiana's governor without doing a Google search. You know why? Because the media is dutifully covering her ass for her....

If this had happened in Florida, all of you would be bashing Jeb Bush...why aren't you bashing Louisiana's governor?

[saintjohn]

Louisiana's governor is clearly incompetent. Kathleen Blanco simply can't cope with the responsibilities of her position. She keeps whining about the lack of military response, but she's the one who didn't mobilize the state's National Guard (which is under her control) ahead of time. What part of "Category 5" didn't Blanco understand?

[slamminshaun]

Again, why do you think nobody even knows her name? The media has decided to give her a free pass.

[mursa]

if im not mistaken a vast majority of La national guard is busy in Iraq ! :-\

[saintjohn]

I'm sure Barbara Walters is already trying to line up a prime time interview.

[slamminshaun]

Originally Posted by mursa

if im not mistaken a vast majority of La national guard is busy in Iraq ! :-\

Go ahead, make excuses for her like the media is...how about we let the guard respond:

State governors "hold me accountable to make sure they have the right kind of units and the right kinds of capabilities that are able to respond if the governors call them out to forest fires or hurricanes or critical infrastructure protection or enhanced security measures,” Army Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief of National Guard Bureau, told the American Forces Press Service last month.

She didn't call them!!!! Louisiana's governor is incompetent, and the media is passing the buck.....She knew there was a Cat 5 out there and DID NOTHING ABOUT IT. Did she call on the guard? Nope. Too little, too late. How come they aren't having the same problems in Mississippi? Oh, I know...because Haley Barbour is the governor and that's one dude who takes no shit. He was prepared, she was not....quite simple.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9117367/

[saintjohn]

Originally Posted by mursa

if im not mistaken a vast majority of La national guard is busy in Iraq !

You ARE mistaken.

The Louisiana Army National Guard consists of about 11,500 members in six troop units. As of 31 August 2005, there were 3,748 Louisiana Army National Guardsmen and Army Reservists and 193 Air Guardsmen and Reservists on active duty in various places around the world. Most of them, about 3,500, are with the 256th Infantry Brigade in Iraq, leaving more than 8,000 Guardsmen and an unknown number of Army Reservists available for disaster relief.

"Vast majority"? Not even close. Next time, try to get your facts straight before posting.

[slamminshaun]

What stopped Louisiana's governor from dispatching the 8,000 National Guardsman when she knew two days ahead of time that a Cat 5 storm was out there....?? Oh, that's right...its easier to blame Bush who has no authority over her state.

[LeVeL]

I blame all this on the conservatives :P