Who was Responsible for the Failure of the Katrina Relief Effort?

I would have preferred to wait to introduce this topic until sometime after a substantial portion of the relief effort was accomplished. I, as many others on this board, have been quite vocal on the unacceptable government response since nearly Monday. After seeing Bill O’Reilly on FOX today blaming the governor of Louisiana, with the obvious implication that the federal government was somehow clean in this matter, I nearly lost it.



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In Bill O’Reilly’s world view, Governor Blanco is primarily responsible because according to him, and his ridiculous “military” analyst, Col David Hunt, she failed to “call Washington” and let them know that she needed help!

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When O’Reilly said the following, I nearly vomited:

O’Reilly: “So let’s recap…I want to be fair…I want to methodical…I want to be precise…The mistake that was made, that I see, was that the Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco, was not proactive in getting enough people close to her largest city so that if the worse case happened they were there and could go in fast. Right or wrong?”



Hunt: “Yeah, that’s correct.”

This absurd exchange continues with the assertion that federal resources could not have been deployed without her express consent.

While I am certain many are ultimately to blame for the colossal and grotesque display of incompetence demonstrated by the relief effort, perhaps including Governor Blanco, I can’t stomach the notion that so many are prepared to give the federal government a pass on their inaction on this matter.

Before I proceed, I’d like to explain my intentions here. I feel we have an obligation to those who needlessly died, and perhaps will still die, as a result of our government’s failure to do what was necessary before, during and after Hurricane Katrina.

I am not attempting a political discussion or an ideological debate. I am merely seeking accountability for those who failed to do their job. What has transpired this past week is not only a national catastrophe, but a national disgrace!

I am disgusted by the images I see and the stories I hear. We owe it to those who have suffered and are still suffering and to all Americans to ensure nothing like this can ever happen again.

Admittedly, I am no expert in the protocols that should have been applied during this disaster. Moreover, I am not certain whether any ideas I have (or those of others) would have fared much better in these circumstances. But what I do know is that since 911, we have committed substantial resources and planning to theoretically respond to calamities of this size. We have been led to believe that America is safer because of it. Yet, this week and this storm have taught us, and the world, otherwise. How can that be?

I would welcome anyone’s help on this endeavor. In my view, it begins with an analysis of what we believed to have been place in terms of a plan for just such a disaster of this size and nature.

I suppose one could start such an analysis in any number of places. I for obvious reasons chose to start with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, (FEMA). Accordingly, this is what I have found so far, and I have to say, I am shocked by what I am finding...

About FEMA

The Federal Emergency Management Agency - a former independent agency that became part of the new Department of Homeland Security in March 2003 - is tasked with responding to, planning for, recovering from and mitigating against disasters. FEMA can trace its beginnings to the Congressional Act of 1803. This act, generally considered the first piece of disaster legislation, provided assistance to a New Hampshire town following an extensive fire. In the century that followed, ad hoc legislation was passed more than 100 times in response to hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters.

…

In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Joe M. Allbaugh as the director of FEMA. Within months, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11th focused the agency on issues of national preparedness and homeland security, and tested the agency in unprecedented ways. The agency coordinated its activities with the newly formed Office of Homeland Security, and FEMA's Office of National Preparedness was given responsibility for helping to ensure that the nation's first responders were trained and equipped to deal with weapons of mass destruction.

Billions of dollars of new funding were directed to FEMA to help communities face the threat of terrorism. Just a few years past its 20th anniversary, FEMA was actively directing its "all-hazards" approach to disasters toward homeland security issues. In March 2003, FEMA joined 22 other federal agencies, programs and offices in becoming the Department of Homeland Security. The new department, headed by Secretary Tom Ridge, brought a coordinated approach to national security from emergencies and disasters - both natural and man-made. Today, FEMA is one of four major branches of DHS. About 2,500 full-time employees in the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate are supplemented by more than 5,000 stand-by disaster reservists.

As it has for more than 20 years, FEMA's mission remains: to lead America to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disasters with a vision of "A Nation Prepared." At no time in its history has this vision been more important to the country than in the aftermath of Sept. 11th.

OK, so now I know what they believe their responsibility is.

Michael D. Brown is the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response

As the head of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Under Secretary Brown leads federal disaster response and recovery operations and coordinates disaster activities with more than two dozen federal agencies and departments and the American Red Cross…

Additionally, Under Secretary Brown helps the Secretary of Homeland Security ensure the effectiveness of emergency responders, and directs the National Incident Management System (NIMS) Integration Center, the National Disaster Medical System and the Nuclear Incident Response Team.

Suspect Number 1:

Michael D. Brown



In no particular order, I chose a few links at FEMA’s website , and learned of the National Urban Search and Rescue Response System, (US&R).

They state:

The National Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Response System, established under the authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 1989 is a framework for structuring local emergency services personnel into integrated disaster response task forces.

These task forces, complete with necessary tools and equipment, and required skills and techniques, can be deployed by FEMA for the rescue of victims of structural collapse. Learn more about this national capability by using the buttons on the sidebar.

OK, what has FEMA said they have done with regard to Katrina and how soon?

I found this….

Life Safety Tops FEMA Priorities, Supplies Pour In, August 31, 2001

Look at the Federal Response Activities section. So much of this seems disputable…..I’ll need to look at these more closely later….

Regardless, I really did not find anything that suggested FEMA has a grand comprehensive plan to address a disaster on the scale of Hurricane Katrina. In fact, I found the following on their FAQ section for Response & Recovery

Where can I get food and water?

The American Red Cross and other volunteer agencies will provide you with food, water and clothing. Listen to your radio or watch local media for the location of the nearest volunteer agency facility.

What??? This doesn’t sound like a plan at all. I’ll also look later at the Red Cross’ response to determine what happened.

Moving to the Department of Homeland Security , I found what I was looking for in the Emergencies & Disasters section, under Planning and Prevention…www.dhs.gov..." target="_blank" class="postlink"> National Response Plan

This is a 486 page document! My initial review reveals the following:

The purpose of the NRP is to establish a comprehensive, national, all-hazards approach to domestic incident management across a spectrum of activities including prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery…

It is designed to provide a proactive and integrated Federal response to catastrophic events;

And:

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 established DHS to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States; reduce the vulnerability of the United States to…natural disasters, and other emergencies; and minimize the damage and assist in the recovery from…natural disasters, and other emergencies. The act also designates DHS as “a focal point regarding natural and manmade crises and emergency planning.”

And:

Pursuant to HSPD-5, the Secretary of Homeland Security is responsible for coordinating Federal operations within the United States to prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies. HSPD-5 further designates the Secretary of Homeland Security as the “principal Federal official” for domestic incident management.

Suspect Number 2:

Michael Chertoff



The NPR further states:

In this role, the Secretary is also responsible for coordinating Federal resources utilized in response to or recovery from…major disasters, or other emergencies if and when any of the following four conditions applies:

(1) a Federal department or agency acting under its own authority has requested DHS assistance;

(2) the resources of State and local authorities are overwhelmed and Federal assistance has been requested;

(3) more than one Federal department or agency has become substantially involved in responding to the incident; or

(4) the Secretary has been directed to assume incident management responsibilities by the President.

Suspect Number 3:

President George W. Bush



The NPR continues:

The Department of Defense has significant resources that may be available to support the Federal response to an Incident of National Significance…

The Secretary of Defense authorizes Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) for domestic incidents as directed by the President or when consistent with military readiness operations and appropriate under the circumstances and the law. The Secretary of Defense retains command of military forces under DSCA, as with all other situations and operations.

Suspect Number 4:

Donald Rumsfeld



The NPR continues:

During an Incident of National Significance, other Federal departments or agencies may play primary, coordinating, and/or support roles based on their authorities and resources and the nature of the incident…

Several Federal agencies have independent authorities to declare disasters or emergencies. These authorities may be exercised concurrently with or become part of a
major disaster or emergency declared under the Stafford Act.

There is obviously much more to review and explore. I will pick up more as time permits…

[edit on 3-9-2005 by loam]

Why can't the media and other orgainzations...

Foucs on the relief FIRST

Rather then engage in finger pointing.

I agree. There will be plenty of time to finger point after the work is done.

Rescue operations cannot proceed when doctors are being shot at. The mayor is ultimately responsible for security in his city.

Your list of suspects is woefully sparse, however. I won't comment on finger-pointing until at least next week, after rescue/recovery operations have been under way for several days.

I am very, very familiar with NO area. Bill O'Reilly is just plan stupid.

NO has been a center of evil and coruption since the French built it where the local indians wouldn't live.

BLAME the people themselves for electing a parade of theives that stole billions of dollars then turned around and handed a very small percentage to the local poor, and drug addicts, etc, etc.

It is moronic stupidity to rely on any government in a disaster spanning 90,000 square miles. Too many people with there hands out when they spend their welfare checks on "Crack".

It is no coincident that this storm happened with the timing it has. This very weekend in NO was to be "Decadent" weekend....a GAY/Lesbian celecration of homosexual EVIL.

YES, GOD has punished NO for its centuries of evil.......New Orleans is/was modern day Sodom!!!!!!

Flamers be damned.

This is what was being refered to:

“Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.”

Posse Comitatus Act

It is/was Blanco's responsibility to formally request fedralization of the Louisiana Guard before federal authorities could issue any orders to them or any other guard units.

It is my opinion (unsubstantiated as of this time) that Bush had to convince other Govenors to federalize their NG troops in order to bypass Blanco's refusal to do so.

Please fully read the linked Act before jumping on the MSM bandwagon.

I agree that it is impossible to get help to those people if you are being shot at.

Knowing what I know about the local government in NO, I think the failure here is from the top all the way to the bottom. The local government and police were corrupt 30 years ago and I doubt they changed for the better in the years since then. I haven't been there in many years so I am only speaking from what was the case in the late 70's-early 80's.

You have to realize that the culture is different there and most folks live day to day or hour to hour and have a hard time worrying about what might happen 2 weeks from now or 5 years from now. Add to that the fact that nothing like this has happened before, and people become complacent. Now they are up a creek. The mayor did not take leadership in this situation and I think he snapped. In all fairness, I would have, too.

The only way that things would have gone differently is if someone has stepped up and taken charge. THAT is the big failure here to get things going. I am not sure who that person would have been, but clearly the mayor couldn't, the governor couldn't, Chertoff couldn't, but dammit someone should have. If someone had taken the lead here and told people what to do, sent runners to communicate, and organized relief efforts, things would have not been nearly as bad.

If you look at the situation in Mississippi, things are a lot more organized there. I realize they are under water, but you know what? They had someone step in and make decisions and brought things under control there. Then again, it is common knowledge there that if you are causing trouble you will be shot. Sad as it is, that seems to be the only thing some people will respond to but it is effective. It worked wonders during Camille Yes, they had a very few looters after Camille (a total of 5) and that lasted about an hour. After those 5 were shot, people decided to behave. Funny how that works No matter what you may personally thing of Governor Barbour, he definitely seems to have a better grip on his citizens and things are a lot better there than in Louisiana at the moment. I have to hand it to him for getting things moving there and not losing his head.

I am horrified at what I have seen in NO and never dreamed I would ever see this in the US, but hope lessons will be learned from it. Failures occurred at every level here, but I think just having someone step up and take charge would have made all the difference. The lack of communication was inexcusable, and even if coms are down and water is everywhere, you can still send runners to let people know what is going on and give instructions and no one even thought of doing this because no one was in charge

I am not naming names here because I think it was EVERYONE from the top down who screwed this one up, and I am fearful of what Memphis will look like when New Madrid finally goes (like NO on steroids would be my guess).

If this is what we have to look forward to the next time something happens, we should all be afraid...very afraid.

Originally posted by SkepticSanity
Bill O'Reilly is just plan stupid.

This is the only thing you have said really worth responding too. You are 100% right he is stupid and hates blacks or just dont care.





YES, GOD has punished NO for its centuries of evil.......New Orleans is/was modern day Sodom!!!!!!

Where did you get the 411 from God? You have him on the red phone? Who in hell told you god punished those people. I DONT WANT A GOD THAT PUNISHES for living thier life the best wat they know.

[edit on 3-9-2005 by SpittinCobra]

What's going on with o'reilly's face in that first picture? It looks like he's breaking out in hives or something. In any case i think it's pretty evident the governor did what she could and finally complained enough to get something done.

Originally posted by Phoenix
This is what was being refered to:

“Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.”

Posse Comitatus Act

It is/was Blanco's responsibility to formally request fedralization of the Louisiana Guard before federal authorities could issue any orders to them or any other guard units.

It is my opinion (unsubstantiated as of this time) that Bush had to convince other Govenors to federalize their NG troops in order to bypass Blanco's refusal to do so.

Please fully read the linked Act before jumping on the MSM bandwagon.

Nonsense! There are (and have been) plenty of exceptions to Posse Comitatus. To allow the feds to currently assert otherwise as justification for their failure to act in this instance is simply unacceptable. This is the height of “double speak”!

First, the Posse Comitatus act does not apply to the Coast Guard or the National Guard. Moreover, its prohibitions, relative to the rest of the armed services, are in instances of “civil law enforcement”.

Secondly, the Stafford Act , explicitly governs as one of several statutory exceptions to Posse Comitatus.

While the act bureaucratically requires in several sections the consent of a state’s governor to trigger the exceptions, Section 5192 specifically states:

§ 5192. Federal emergency assistance [Sec. 502]

a. Specified

In any emergency, the President may--

1. direct any Federal agency, with or without reimbursement, to utilize its authorities and the resources granted to it under Federal law (including personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, and managerial, technical and advisory services) in support of State and local emergency assistance efforts to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, and lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe;

2. coordinate all disaster relief assistance (including voluntary assistance) provided by Federal agencies, private organizations, and State and local governments;

3. provide technical and advisory assistance to affected State and local governments for--
A. the performance of essential community services;
B. issuance of warnings of risks or hazards;
C. public health and safety information, including dissemination of such information;
D. provision of health and safety measures; and
E. management, control, and reduction of immediate threats to public health and safety;

4. provide emergency assistance through Federal agencies;

5. remove debris in accordance with the terms and conditions of section 407 [42 U.S.C. § 5173];

6. provide assistance in accordance with section 408 [42 U.S.C. § 5174]; and [(Pub.L. 106-390, § 206(b), October 30, 2000)]

7. assist State and local governments in the distribution of medicine, food, and other consumable supplies, and emergency assistance.


b. General

Whenever the Federal assistance provided under subsection (a) with respect to an emergency is inadequate, the President may also provide assistance with respect to efforts to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, and lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe.

Additionally, the President of the United States has the constitutional power and inherent right and duty to use military forces in the context of homeland defense and in the preservation of federal functions (transportation, commerce, education, civil rights).

Federal troops were used in the South during the 1960s to preserve access to educational institutions for blacks under this constitutional presidential authority. As another example, over ten thousand U.S. troops were deployed during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta under this “inherent presidential authority rationale” because of the potential for terrorist activity.

To see the federal government use Posse Comitatus as cover for their inexcusable inaction, and incompetence, is an affront to the most basic standards of common sense and human decency.

How many of you will let the Feds pass on this one???? Absurd!



[edit on 3-9-2005 by loam]

Here is some more on suspect #1, really good compilation from one of our own.

Brown

If nothing else is made of it, they could not have picked a better scape goat. Replacement won't cause a huge problem at least.

Originally posted by ADVISOR
Here is some more on suspect #1, really good compilation from one of our own.

Brown

If nothing else is made of it, they could not have picked a better scape goat. Replacement won't cause a huge problem at least.

Thank you Advisor.

Nerdling: good post.

Originally posted by Gardenia

If you look at the situation in Mississippi, things are a lot more organized there.

Really???? Mississippians' Suffering Overshadowed

I am not naming names here because I think it was EVERYONE from the top down who screwed this one up...

You may be right, but I prefer to look at the top first....

How exactly did the releaf plan failled ?? is veryone dead ???
I dont think so, are not people beeing take care of ? yes... so it didnt fail... Natural tragedies happen, people die... some even die without natural disasters, imagine that ...

Help got there as soon as it could ! Some peole die others live... such is life.

There is a place where "pointing fingers" can be inserted, but I wont mention it, cause I dont want to disrespect anyone...

Sometimes before casting blame we need to take a look in the mirror.

Have you ever taken any active role in local town meetings?
Did you even bother to vote for your local representatives?
Have you ever written or called your congressman?
Did you simply vote along party lines without considering the important issues?
Who do you trust?
Who should you trust?

Our greatest failure and our greatest risk does not come from
corruption or terrorism, it comes from apathy.

It's much easier to cast blame rather than blame ourselves for allowing something to happen.

Originally posted by FallenFromTheTree

Sometimes before casting blame we need to take a look in the mirror.

I second this motion !!




Mod Edit: to reduce BIG Quote

[edit on 3-9-2005 by kinglizard]

So let me get this straight, you have to have total death before its a failure?

Originally posted by SpittinCobra
So let me get this straight, you have to have total death before its a failure?

Off course not, but its not a failure when over 90% of the people are there and beeing atekn care of ... come one... it atkes time to organize help of this ammount. Things dont just fall off the sky, and like Isaid on the otehr post, the authorirties had to take care of the anarchy first. What good is to send help, if they will be robbeed and shot and it will never get to those in need??

Anybody else notice that in the pictures in the first post that Bush has the wrong end of the phone up to his ear?? That explains right there why he is out of the loop.

Originally posted by BaastetNoir

Originally posted by SpittinCobra
So let me get this straight, you have to have total death before its a failure?

Off course not, but its not a failure when over 90% of the people are there and beeing atekn care of ... come one... it atkes time to organize help of this ammount. Things dont just fall off the sky, and like Isaid on the otehr post, the authorirties had to take care of the anarchy first. What good is to send help, if they will be robbeed and shot and it will never get to those in need??

They where not taken care of till yesterday, and still thousands are still with out food. Im not even talking about the people in thier houses, im talking about people on I/10 that see buses and food go past them.

[edit on 3-9-2005 by SpittinCobra]

Did Iraq have to ask before we went in to "help"?

Did Grenada have to ask before we went in to "help"?

Did Panama have to ask before we went in to "help"?

Did Nicaragua have to ask before we went in to "help"?

Did the Tsunami victims have to ask before we went in to help?