An INDPENDENT investigation of Katrina is needed

[GreenPartyVoter]

Americans, here are some places where you can quickly fill out email forms and send some notices to your Senators and Representatives and the media in a hurry. If you need a letter to send you can use the example below (note you may also want to ask why there are so many no-bid sweetheart contracts being handed out to companies like Kellogg, Brown, and Root and Halliburton. [font=Verdana, Arial] http://ga3.org/campaign/howdarethey[/font]):

http://moveon.org/

http://tools.democracyforamerica.com/petition/katrina/

http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=19560

http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=8002046&type=CO

Below is a sample letter that you can use as a model to send either to the Congress or to the media.

At no time should a person who is accused of wrongdoing investigate himself, yet this is exactly what George W. Bush is proposing to do in light of the terrible recovery and assistance response after hurricane Katrina. And bipartisan efforts to investigate are also out of order, since bipartisan committees oversaw Homeland Security, which oversaw the now-gutted and crippled FEMA which had been folded into it.

Homeland Security is the first responder in national disasters, why was it one of the last groups to show up? The media was able to get in there, as were celebrities, surely rescue teams could as well. And as for shots fired, our National Guard comes under heavier fire every day in Iraq, surely they could manage the small amounts of gunfire from hysterical people trying to get their attention?

Why did the president not act sooner when implored by the Gulf State governors to send assistance both for evacuation and rescue efforts? (The famed flooded New Orleans school buses were useless to the mayor for evacuation purposes without drivers and federally-approved destinations; responsibilities that fall squarely in FEMA’s lap.) A single phone call from the president from the Oval Office, or Air Force One, or the Senator’s birthday party in Arizona, or the Naval Base Coronado after he finished strumming the guitar he received would have sufficed. NorthCom was in place and ready to serve, but the president did not request their aid. He knew that a disaster of this magnitude was possible based on the test scenario called “Hurricane Pam”, the warnings from the under-funded Army Corps of engineers about the levees in New Orleans, and the alerts explaining the dire consequences of Katrina from NOAA; he cannot claim ignorance of the impending calamity.

Why did the president hand out positions like Head of Homeland Security and the three top positions in FEMA to people who had no disaster management experience that would make them valuable in such placements? Are former political campaign managers and horse association attorneys who embellish their résumés the best the President can muster for these all-important jobs? What good are emergency officers who were so out of touch with the situation on the ground that they didn’t find out for DAYS that there were thousands of people trapped at the New Orleans Convention Center? Some “heck of a job”. Mr. Bush had nothing but high praise for former director James Lee Witt, why didn’t he keep the man on the job?

Why did the president stall on the acceptance of or flat out refuse international assistance? Why was the U.S.S. Bataan sent to the gulf only to sit there and watch helplessly from the waters as it awaited the call to action? FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security appear to have been instructed to reject help from people all over the United States. For what? Pride? Red tape? A misunderstanding of how very bad the situation in the gulf turned out to be?

Now the president is rumored to be thinking of passing more tax cuts. It was bad enough to do it during a time of war, but with the Gulf disaster stacked on top of that there is no justification—none—for cutting taxes at this time.

But there is every justification to demand an independent investigation. After 9/11/2001 we were promised that our nation would be made safer, our emergency responses made more efficient and streamlined. They weren’t. Someone dropped the ball and it landed smack dab on the Gulf Coast.

 

[Moros]

Why?

 

[GreenPartyVoter]

Why?

Read the letter in the OP.

 

[ClaireZ]

Excellent Post.

There must be some accountability for this disaster and the horrible way in which it was managed.

I hope that there is a full investigation from independent sources to answer all these questions and many others.

 

[Voegelin]

Oversight is the job of Congress. It is a constitutional duty.

Liberals want an "independant" commission so they can stack it just as they did the 9/11 commission. No more Jamie Gorelicks and Richard Ben-Venistes investigating anything. They want to do congress' job, let them run for office.

Democrats never called for "independent" investigations when they ran congress for decades. Elections have meanings. Since 1994, they have meant Republicans, not Democrats, are the majority and chair House and Senate committees.

If liberals don't like it, I suggest they start winning elections. They might consider offering voters something postive to vote for rather than endless attacks on those who have won elections.

 

[Cerberus~]

Why does the writer of the letter completely ignore the responsibility of state and local governments. They're the first responders. The buses, that was the mayors job. Don't tell me they didn't have drivers out of the hundreds of thousands in the city. They had enough drivers to haul ppl to the superdome. If anyone is most at fault, it's Blanco. She should have had the Gaurd ready before the storm. She had time to move them anywhere. She had them outside the town, and when the levis broke and after the storm, they couldn't get in.

I blame Bush for a being a day late to the table. He let Blanco be in charge way too long. That's why things got so bad.

 

[Finella]

I wrote my senators last week with the same objective; it's in everyone's interests, including the President's, to have a full and independent investigation of the Katrina problem. If the President did everything he should have, then he has nothing to fear in an independent investigation; spearheading an investigation of his own only creates the sense that it is a biased examination.

And "independent" does not mean pro-Democrat, it means exactly that: independent. Such an investigation should, of course, look at all levels of government, and what each level could have managed given the situation. From all the examination I've seen so far, yes, the local levels had problems, but once FEMA got involved, then each organization could not synchronize and work efficiently. This, too, should be a major focus of the problem.

 

[kermit]

Why does the writer of the letter completely ignore the responsibility of state and local governments. They're the first responders. The buses, that was the mayors job. Don't tell me they didn't have drivers out of the hundreds of thousands in the city. They had enough drivers to haul ppl to the superdome. If anyone is most at fault, it's Blanco. She should have had the Gaurd ready before the storm. She had time to move them anywhere. She had them outside the town, and when the levis broke and after the storm, they couldn't get in.

I blame Bush for a being a day late to the table. He let Blanco be in charge way too long. That's why things got so bad.

I am sick and tired of hearing about those buses.

1) The city had so much traffic that they buses would only have added to the problem

2) Where would these buses take the people? The Superdome was set up for 48-72 hours of provisions. It was the best place to be for those who had no where else to go. If FEMA couldn't handle 2 locations (Superdome and Convention Center) how would they handle small groups spread all over the state? If FEMA hadn't dropped the ball, transporting people out of the city on the buses wouldn't have been needed. It's Monday morning quarterbacking to say that the mayor should have used the buses. I hear what comes down to the Mayor should have known that FEMA was going to screw up so he should have used the buses to transport people to some unknown location (violating the emergency plan) and since he didn't do so it's his fault more people died than needed to.

Local and State government fullfilled their end of the evacuation plan. Actually they did a better job than was expected from the plan. They were to get as many people out of the city or to safety as possible then wait for the Federal Government to step in. The Federal response was slower than expected and New Orleans didn't have enough supplies to last much longer.

I'm sure that Local and State government made mistakes, but the evacuation wasn't one of them.

 

[MethodMan]

I am sick and tired of hearing about those buses.

1) The city had so much traffic that they buses would only have added to the problem

This should have been addressed when they drew up the ERP for NO. Instead, the Mayro said "you are on your own."

2) Where would these buses take the people? The Superdome was set up for 48-72 hours of provisions. It was the best place to be for those who had no where else to go. If FEMA couldn't handle 2 locations (Superdome and Convention Center) how would they handle small groups spread all over the state? If FEMA hadn't dropped the ball, transporting people out of the city on the buses wouldn't have been needed. It's Monday morning quarterbacking to say that the mayor should have used the buses. I hear what comes down to the Mayor should have known that FEMA was going to screw up so he should have used the buses to transport people to some unknown location (violating the emergency plan) and since he didn't do so it's his fault more people died than needed to.

Mayor should have read before 8/27/05

Local and State government fullfilled their end of the evacuation plan.

No they didn't. Not even close!

 

[kermit]

No they didn't. Not even close!

The evacuation exceded expectations. Was it 100%? No.

The best New Orleans ever got in the past was 60% evacuated. This time they got 80%. Out of that 20% remaining many got to he areas where they were supposed to be. They had 3 days food and water waiting for them in the proper places. Concidering the inherent chaos of 1.1 million people the evacuation went as well as could be expected.

 

[MethodMan]

The evacuation exceded expectations. Was it 100%? No.

The best New Orleans ever got in the past was 60% evacuated. This time they got 80%. Out of that 20% remaining many got to he areas where they were supposed to be. They had 3 days food and water waiting for them in the proper places. Concidering the inherent chaos of 1.1 million people the evacuation went as well as could be expected.

So their plan fails and it turns into a fault of FEMA?

 

[kermit]

So their plan fails and it turns into a fault of FEMA?

Actually the plan suceeded beyond expectation up until the FEMA part of it failed miserably.

I'm sure the plan had flaws and an investigation will reveal them. We have to do better next time, but if FEMA hadn't messed up so badly we would have done pretty good this time.

 

[MethodMan]

Actually the plan suceeded beyond expectation up until the FEMA part of it failed miserably.

I'm sure the plan had flaws and an investigation will reveal them. We have to do better next time, but if FEMA hadn't messed up so badly we would have done pretty good this time.

This goes directly to your point 2.

2) Where would these buses take the people?



You mean to tell me that FEMA should have been responsible to determine where these people should go? Why was this not planned a long time ago?

 

[kermit]

This goes directly to your point 2.

2) Where would these buses take the people?



You mean to tell me that FEMA should have been responsible to determine where these people should go? Why was this not planned a long time ago?

That's part of the point with the buses. They weren't part of the plan that the pundits accuse local and state officials of not following (Then they ask why didn't they use the buses). The buses weren't part of the plan due to one factor.... time. It's impossible to know how far the buses could have gotten before the storm hit. There are places in the city that don't offer comlete protection, but offer less variables in determining a plan.

What would have happened had the buses been used as an improvization? Suppose they had actually managed to make it safety in time. Now FEMA has to find out where all those people are and has to spead it resources thinner. That is supposing that they knew the buses were even used.

Using the buses would have been a horrible idea and anyone who thinks about it knows it. It's just a way for pundits to divert blame to local officials.

 

[MethodMan]

That's part of the point with the buses. They weren't part of the plan that the pundits accuse local and state officials of not following (Then they ask why didn't they use the buses). The buses weren't part of the plan due to one factor.... time. It's impossible to know how far the buses could have gotten before the storm hit. There are places in the city that don't offer comlete protection, but offer less variables in determining a plan.

FEMA fault?

What would have happened had the buses been used as an improvization? Suppose they had actually managed to make it safety in time. Now FEMA has to find out where all those people are and has to spead it resources thinner. That is supposing that they knew the buses were even used.

WHY WEREN"T THEY part of the plan? Being the concerned citizen that I am, I checked our city's plan and found they have city schools as gathering places where the buses, both metro and school, will evacuate to the site to be determined by the mayor's Chief of Emergency Managment at the time of the declared emergency.

Using the buses would have been a horrible idea and anyone who thinks about it knows it. It's just a way for pundits to divert blame to local officials.

Using them seems like a good idea to anyone that works out the logistics. But it is easier to blame FEMA than to admit youi failed your citizens.

 

[GreenPartyVoter]

<snip>

Liberals want an "independant" commission so they can stack it just as they did the 9/11 commission.

<snip>

If liberals don't like it, I suggest they start winning elections. They might consider offering voters something postive to vote for rather than endless attacks on those who have won elections.

The 9/11 commision was a complete whitewash. Hence the reason Rep. McKinney called for a second unofficial set of hearings.

As for winning elections, we'd love to. Are the Repubs willing to give up control of the DIEBOLD machines now?

This country is in desperate need of Election Reform: http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/electionreform.htm

 

[GreenPartyVoter]

You know what I think? I suspect the feds are trying to make FEMA look SO bad that the masses will be begging to abolish it, thus paving the way for privatization of disaster management.

BAD idea. The Army privatized logisitical support and look how bad that has been going for them in Iraq? Let's face it, if I'm in trouble I don't want Halliburton and Kellogg, Brown, and Root to come riding to the rescue. They probably won't show up and then they'll bill me for triple overtime.

The solution is to get FEMA back into the shape it was under James Lee Witt. It was a mistake to get rid of him and a mistake to fold FEMA into the Department of Fatherland InSecurity.

 

[kermit]

FEMA fault?

WHY WEREN"T THEY part of the plan? Being the concerned citizen that I am, I checked our city's plan and found they have city schools as gathering places where the buses, both metro and school, will evacuate to the site to be determined by the mayor's Chief of Emergency Managment at the time of the declared emergency.

Using them seems like a good idea to anyone that works out the logistics. But it is easier to blame FEMA than to admit youi failed your citizens.

I'm not blaming FEMA for the buses not being part of the plan. I am saying that the buses weren't and probably shouldn't have been part of the plan. And most likely using them would have created more problems.

It's a good idea to read your city's evacuation plan. I don't know what kind of emergencies your city is planning for, but it seems to me that a school bus it not a good place to be in a hurricane. Maybe in some cases the buses would have been a better option, but in creating a plan one has to determine what it the most likely the better option.

It risk assessment vs. monday morning quarterbacking. You have the luxury of saying "they should have done this or that". Those things are important to say because maybe it helps next time. However, the people who created the plan didn't have the luxury of hindsight.

 

[MethodMan]

I'm not blaming FEMA for the buses not being part of the plan. I am saying that the buses weren't and probably shouldn't have been part of the plan. And most likely using them would have created more problems.

Your first post in this thread said:

I'm sure that Local and State government made mistakes, but the evacuation wasn't one of them.


Yet everything you point out was a failure of the evac. plan. You are tired of hearing about the buses. I am tired of hearing 80% effective as something good.

 

[kermit]

Your first post in this thread said:

I'm sure that Local and State government made mistakes, but the evacuation wasn't one of them.


Yet everything you point out was a failure of the evac. plan. You are tired of hearing about the buses. I am tired of hearing 80% effective as something good.

Maybe I should make myself clearer. The evacuation plan was executed well by local officials, but any mistakes should be reviewed. I think the effectiveness of the plan should be reviewed. We should try to make a better plan for the future.

Undeniably, the biggest mistakes were made by FEMA.