I'm a former (disabled on the job) paramedic - so I know a little bit about disaster planning - and who is responsible for what. First responsibilty always belongs to local government agencies. They are backed up by the state - including national gaurd units. Finally, the state is backed up by federal resources. FEMA's job is to coordinate the federal assistance.
I wrote the post below a couple of days ago - since then we have learned that while the mayor was yealling for help from the feds - buses and trucks were a few miles away being held up at a National Guard roadblock!
The bottom line, IMHO, is that the local and state authorities bear much more responsiblity for the mess in New Orleans that the feds do - although the feds could have done better.
What we see now is a concerted effort to "blame Bush" - so that when the real facts are brought forward in an investigation, the public's mind will be made up.
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The mainstream press is hard at work blaming President Bush for the high death toll and "slow response" to the Katrina disaster. Here are some facts that are being under-reported or not reported at all in the mainstream press:
Fact: Liberal groups - including the New York Times - successfully opposed funding for better levees on environmental grounds. Today the New York times blamed Bush and Republicans for not funding better levees
Fact: The New Orleans levee commission had money to buy real estate outside the city and a casino - but not enough money to improve the levees
Fact: National Guard Units are under the command of state Governors, not the President. Furthermore, Federal law absolutely prohibits the use of Federal troops to enforce state or local laws. Therefore, by law, their was nothing President Bush could have done to stop the looting, raping, and murders that followed the storm.
Fact: President Bush declared Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama federal disaster areas THREE DAYS before the storm hit. Among other things, this provided federal money for these sates to active their National Guard Units. Mississippi and Alabama activated their units and moved them north, out of the storm area. The Democratic Governor of Louisiana did not activate any of her National Guard Units until after the storm. By then communications were poor and many units equipment was under water.
Fact: The only person with the authority to order an evacuation of New Orleans was its' Mayor. In spite of having three days warning, he did not do so until less then 24hrs before the storm hit. Why did he finally give the order that saved thousands of people? President Bush called him personally and begged him to do so.
Fact: The City of New Orleans had 560 buses available to evacuate those who had no transportation of their own. NOT ONE was used. Instead, the city simply told everyone to flee and told those who could not get out to go to the Superdome and Convention Center. The person who abandoned the poor and largely black people without transportation was their own black mayor!
Fact: Nearly half the New Orleans Police Department deserted their posts, leaving the city even more vulnerable. This department has been the most corrupt department in the nation for decades. Officers dealing drugs was very common and one cop even committed murder on duty. He would never have been caught without an FBI investigation. A better police department would have gone a long way towards keeping order. (Note: Many New Orleans Officers DID do their duty - they have proven their character by their actions - and should be the core of a new police department!)
Fact: The Governor of Louisiana waited for days before giving the National Guard orders to shoot lawbreakers in New Orleans. When she gave those orders and announced them on radio and TV, the looting and general lawlessness basically stopped. When you shoot looters instead of letting them go, most will not take that risk.
Fact: It is not reasonable to expect federal resources to be immediately available. Local resources MUST be able to handle disaster until federal resource arrive. State and Local officials MUST be able to handle the situation for 48 to 72 hours before federal resources arrive.
There clearly were problems with FEMA and other Federal agencies. These problems must be corrected. But the facts are clear: Had city and state officials done their jobs, everyone could have been out of New Orleans before the storm ever hit!
It's time for the media to stop blaming President Bush and place responsibility where it really belongs!
