Mar 04 2006
Let us never forget
Today’s Washington Post editorial…
Caught on Tape ON THE DAY before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, federal emergency officials warned President Bush that the hurricane could be “the big one,” the storm the region had long feared; that the Superdome, the shelter of last resort in New Orleans, was below sea level and might well lose its roof; that medical and mortuary teams might not be prepared; and that the levees might not hold back the floodwaters. Mr. Bush, speaking during a videoconference, a tape of which was obtained by the Associated Press, responded by reassuring state officials that “we are fully prepared.”
Without a doubt, the tape provides evidence that the White House received ample warning of the catastrophe. Yet within days of that videoconference, Mr. Bush would excuse the federal government’s extraordinarily poor performance by telling an interviewer that “I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.” Moreover, at the time of the conference the White House had no idea whether federal emergency services were truly prepared. On the tape, the president doesn’t ask any questions about preparedness, and there is no evidence in documents since released that he was any more engaged before or after the conference. Had anyone called the Defense Department? Was the National Guard en route? Were local Army bases prepared to help? Were emergency food and water supplies in place? The president, like everyone around him, appears to have assumed that everything would run like clockwork, just as it was supposed to on paper.
Before Louisiana state and city officials get too excited about this video, it’s worth noting that similar criticisms could be lodged against them. Another tape recently released to the AP reveals that Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) reassured the president that the levees had held — three hours after they had broken. New Orleans officials also understood in advance of Katrina the scale of the potential catastrophe — they had carried out simulations of a levee breach — but were unable to cope. Even some specific consequences of the hurricane, such as the failure of low-income people to leave the city, had been predicted. Yet little was done to accommodate them, either.
The tape adds to a growing body of evidence that the disaster was a failure of execution, not prediction. That indicates to us that federal and local government employees must spend more time carrying out practice exercises and involve more people in disaster planning. It also should tell the nation something about the value of leadership. The Gulf Coast might have suffered less had the president just asked a few people the right questions.
Emphasis added.
9 Responses to “Let us never forget”
Let’s not forget the total inadequate response from the Mayor C. Ray Nagin to properly follow the disaster plan in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina hit and then after he was sending misinformation to Blanco at the Capital of Louisiana and add to that she didn’t want the Feds to swoop in and usurp her authority and neither did President Bush want to rush in the Federal Troops until the governor requested them. You Anti Bush people seem to forget that their is a power structure in this country and no level of government wants the other to usurp their authority. So like always you Anti Bush people jumped up and blamed the top level instead of looking where the true trouble started; local and state officials dropped the ball. Has Bush sent troops in from the very beginning many of you would have accused him of invading Louisiana and not recognizing the authority of the state local governments. It happened in Texas when Hurricane Rita was headed for the Gulf Coast of Texas and the Governor of Texas set the State evacuation plan in motion and several of the local leaders said we won’t listen to that and started doing their own thing to get their people out. That is exactly what happens when you have multiple levels of government involved in a situation; neither one wants to yield to a higher level of authority.
The real trouble is we have a MSM that is hell bent on infuencing public opinion that they don’t care about reporting balanced information and they have their own agendas. They tell the news and not report the news anymore in this country. You will continue to blame President Bush even is Mayor Nagin and Blanco were to come on the news and admit that it was their fault that the response to Katrina was a disaster and it was because we were afraid to let the Feds take over the operation. That is truly sad that you have such a closed minded view like that.
You are, of course, absolutely correct, scott. It is the fault of all us “anti-Bush” people and of what you call the MSM that all those people died and lost their homes in New Orleans, Mississippi and Alabama.
How silly of me to forget that. I guess it was just a momentary lapse of memory that made me think that our federal leaders, FEMA and the DHS would have any responsibility.
We must never forget that George W. Bush and his administration are never at fault for anything that may happen in this country, or anywhere else in the world. We must always shift the blame onto someone else. That is, after all, our duty as patriotic Americans.
Please forgive me for forgetting that for a moment. And thanks so much for opening my closed mind. I shall forever be in your debt.
Aren’t the people that sat and did absolutely nothing to help themselves just a little responsible for the situation they’re in? Why is it always the govt’s responsibility to help people wipe their own butts? I live in a hurricane area and I’m smart enough to know the govt isn’t gonna do a damn thing for me! You’d think the people of NO and MS and AL would already know this….no?
Did you know that the Army Core of Engineers told your beloved William Jefferson Clinton that the levy’s weren’t good enough in ‘98 and he did what??? All together now…ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! But you keep blaiming bush…if it makes you feel better.
btw…I’m not a bush supporter…I can’t find it in me to support a CinC that goes on vacation in the middle of a war.
I absolutely, positively double-dare you to find someone from the Ninth Ward whose home and belongings were swept away in the aftermath of Katrina and tell them that they themselves are responsible for what happened to them.
For whatever it’s worth, it does not make me feel better to blame Bush. I just happen to believe that if he is going to strut around carrying the title of President of the United States, he probably ought to start acting like it.
And… if, as you say, the Army Corps of Engineers told President Clinton in ‘98 that the levees in New Orleans weren’t good enough, how is it that Mr. Bush said, four days after Katrina hit, that nobody could have anticipated that those levees would fail? Are you saying that the Army did not share with Mr. Bush the same information that they gave President Clinton? Why would they do such a thing?
I don’t know which is worse, the fact that he lied, or the fact that he was stupid enough to lie when there was evidence to the contrary on video. What a jackass.
Len,
I never once said that the Federal Governorment doesn’t have a part in the blame, but I get sick and tired of you and the MSM acting like most of the blame goes to FEMA and Bush. That is what I have been saying from the beginning and it has been all of the Anti-Bush people which you are included have been saying. FEMA and Bush aren’t responsible for Mayor Nagin not putting New Orleans Emergency Plan into action and it isn’t FEMA or Bush’s fault Governor Blanco was more concerned about keepiong her power over Louisiana than saving the lives of the residence in New Orleans and the surrounding parrish’s. You and the Anti-Bush people just want to forget all that and put all the blame of Bush and FEMA.
Keep spinning, scott. Perhaps one day you will convince yourself.
No spin Len, you can deny all you want that local and state authorities have plenty of responsibility in the failures in New Orleans. But, I don’t really expect you to ever do that as long as you can continue to blame Bush for it all. Wake up to reality.
Unfortunately, I am quite awake, scott.
It appears I was misinformed. I was somehow under the impression that the ‘F’ in ‘FEMA’ stood for ‘Federal.’
Thank you for setting me straight.