Political Issues Snarled Plans for Troop Aid

[jefferson_dem]

Political Issues Snarled Plans for Troop Aid
By ERIC LIPTON, ERIC SCHMITT and THOM SHANKER

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 - As New Orleans descended into chaos last week and Louisiana's governor asked for 40,000 soldiers on Wednesday, President Bush's senior advisers debated whether the president should seize control of the hurricane relief mission from the governor so that active-duty combat troops could be sent to enforce order.

For reasons of practicality and politics, officials at the Justice Department and Pentagon, and then at the White House, decided not to urge the president to take command of the effort by invoking the Insurrection Act, which allows the president in times of unrest to command active-duty forces into the states to perform law enforcement duties.

Instead, the Washington officials decided to rely on the growing number of National Guard personnel flowing into Louisiana, who were under Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco's control.

This debate over federal versus state control of the military relief mission was triggered as officials began to realize that Hurricane Katrina exposed a critical flaw in the national disaster response plans created after the Sept. 11 attacks. According to the administration's senior homeland security officials, the hurricane proved to them the failure of their plan to recognize that local police, fire and medical personnel might be incapacitated and unable to act quickly until reinforcements arrive on the scene.

<SNIP>

http://nytimes.com/2005/09/09/national/nationalspecial/09military.html?ei=5094&en=29839ee3ffe8c2ba&hp=&ex=1126238400&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1126233637-lSWe/2FLeEfI0ibnnTTuAQ

[tk2kewl]

1. is the times trying to open the door for bush here?

is this why they bungled it? so that next time they can unleash martial law immediately? :scared:

[Kagemusha]

3. It's bullshit. If there was ever a time to act immediately, this was it

A hell of a lot more justifiable than just about any conceivable terrorist attack.

Edit: And I'm sure there's methods other than the Insurrection Act that could've been used. But the bottom line is, martial law is for when local legal authority has been destroyed. I'd say the physical flooding of the courts and the seat of the district (federal) court qualifies.

[aquart]

2. The Insurrection Act????

WHAT fucking insurrection???

My god, every time they waste time over the wrong thing.

[Joebert]

4. Boy that's ominous sounding... Insurrection Act.

To google for more info I go.

Per http://www.northcom.mil/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.factsheets&factsheet=5#pca

The Insurrection Act (Title 10 USC, Sections 331-335). This act allows the president to use U.S. military personnel at the request of a state legislature or governor to suppress insurrections. It also allows the president to use federal troops to enforce federal laws when rebellion against the authority of the U.S. makes it impracticable to enforce the laws of the U.S.

[global1]

8. Maybe That Caller To Randi's Show Yesterday Was Right.....

*Co wanted the poor black people of NO to riot so they could go in and shoot them - which would have precipitated unrest in poor black neighborhoods all around the country - so they could have declared Martial Law and really taken over this country. (These are EVIL men.)

Unfortunately - the poor black people of NO - didn't riot. Though tired, hungry, thirsty, dirty, angry - they let cooler heads prevail and maintained a calm. They twarted *Co's scheme. Thank you New Orleans. We own the evacuee's a debt of gratitude. They exposed *Co for what they are - EVIL men oh and women too - I forgot about Condi, Pickles and Barbie.

Think about it - rich white people - can't wait two minutes for a Big Mac at Mickey D's without creating a mini-riot. I call that the McDonald's Syndrome.

Let's see - there were three possible major disasters. I wonder what *Co's scenario was if it was a San Francisco earthquake instead?

[Joebert]

10. I live in Colorado.

I have rooms listed online at hurricanehousing.

I hope they have access to the internet in there.

I'll go pick two people up tonight if I get a hit on my offer.

[acmejack]

21. Let us know how that works out!

I would like to hear more from the evacuees. They're certainly the ones that know the truth.

[Joebert]

36. I have my personal email account open at all times...

Just in case I get a hit.

I'll drive down to Denver, pick them up if needed. (I'm assuming that it would be an evacuee in Denver that finds my place online.)

I am concerned with how they'll do when winter comes. The people that have been sent north have no idea what Colorado winter is like.

I hope the local goodwill places are saving up their winter gear for these guys too.

[lateo]

29. Yeah but the MSM played right along with Bush...

riot, rapes, snipers, mutilations, looting...

[Atman]

5. Let the WHITEWASH BEGIN!

*sigh*

[Catch22Dem]

6. Sounds like they just exonerated Blanco to me

Bush didn't need her permission. She didn't have to ask for aid (even though she did.) He could have sent troops in anytime he wanted. Take that shit, freeptards.

[acmejack]

23. The new thing is She prevented food and water to the superdome.

I have received it from two different friends (albeit misguided, I know they're not stupid). Anyways Flush has it on his site & made a big deal about it yesterday.

[Igel]

37. And is that something that we all would have stood up

and cheered?

"Yippee! * just seized control of the emergency and recovery from a black dem mayor and female dem governor!"

I just can't hear the ringing endorsements in my mind.

"The bastard! WTF! * imposed martial law and sent in the troops?!"

*That* I can imagine, quite easily.

[opihimoimoi]

7. Those dumb MFrs...they shoulda known the locals woulda been overwhelmed

Many warnings were issued during the pre hit phase....

Bush coulda been a Hero, instead, he chose to stay the Coward by sitting in Crawford prior to the hit and even after the hit...

That he failed to act for 4 days is the major sign of his disconnect.

Appalling.

Now, he wants to compensate in order to look good. Give them money and all will be good... What a fuck up..its our monies he spending...
not that I object, but the fact remains...he stayed on his ass when peeps were dying and suffering.. Fuck that ass hole...

History will record this event and BushCo will look STUPID INEPT and CRUEL.....

[daleo]

9. Maybe if the National Guard wouldn't have been in Iraq... n/t

[Roland99]

11. This is just what I've been saying all along:

So, just as I've been saying. The Feds *could* have moved in troops to provide aid and relief efforts without violating Posse Comitatus/Insurrection Act.

Their reasoning was the security situation was too dire and that the National Guard units could handle it. Well, they were wrong. The Gov. mobilized 3,500 LA National Guard members but they weren't enough. Her call to send "everything you have got" apparently went unheeded and/or dismissed for fear of political recriminations.

The military *should* have been mobilized and moved into the area immediately after the storm passed to provide aid for those trapped in the Dome and the Conv. Ctr. Also, the USS Bataan was available just offshore and wasn't used for its capabilities of a hospital on-board nor its ability to make fresh water.

And, re: Rumfeld's comments that those deployed to Iraq made no difference:
August 1, 2005, 9:07 PM CDT
http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=107734

JACKSON BARRACKS -- When members of the Louisiana National Guard left for Iraq in October, they took a lot equipment with them. Dozens of high water vehicles, humvees, refuelers and generators are now abroad, and in the event of a major natural disaster that, could be a problem.

"The National Guard needs that equipment back home to support the homeland security mission," said Lt. Colonel Pete Schneider with the LA National Guard.

Col. Schneider says the state has enough equipment to get by, and if Louisiana were to get hit by a major hurricane, the neighboring states of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have all agreed to help.

"As Governor Bush did for Ivan, after they were hit so many times, he just maxed all of his resources out, he reached out to Louisiana and we sent 200 national guardsmen to help support in recovery efforts," Col. Schneider said.

Members of the Houma-based 256th Infantry will be returning in October, but it could be much longer before the rest of their equipment comes home.

Well, so happens that hurricane hit two of those other states, limiting the ability of those states' Guard to aid LA.

[Lindacooks]

12. This phrase just kills me:

...exposed a critical flaw in the national disaster response plans created after the Sept. 11 attacks. According to the administration's senior homeland security officials, the hurricane proved to them the failure of their plan to recognize that local police, fire and medical personnel might be incapacitated and unable to act quickly until reinforcements arrive on the scene.

It does NOT take a rocket scientist to figure that out!!! My mind boggles at the total ineptness and stupidity of these people!! Bush should be impeached for this one fact alone.

[bklyncowgirl]

13. Political Issues Snarled Plans for Troop Aid (NYT)

What do you guys make of this?

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 - As New Orleans descended into chaos last week and Louisiana's governor asked for 40,000 soldiers, President Bush's senior advisers debated whether the president should speed the arrival of active-duty troops by seizing control of the hurricane relief mission from the governor.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/09/national/nationalspecial/09military.html?hp&ex=1126324800&en=905e7a862e1c0023&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[paulthompson]

14. This story is BS

It's the usual New York Times apologists in action. The article tries to make it seem that it was a question of soldiers from the army or nobody. But in fact there were many National Guard troops from other states that could have been brought in immediately without all the issues using army troops raises. The article completely ignores this.

I think this was a power play - Bush had to give permission to bring in the National Guard from other states and he didn't, because he wanted to establish complete political control over the situation. Meanwhile, thousands of suffering civilians were killed while he tried to bully the governor.

But don't expect the New York Times to ever investigate that.

[lateo]

15. Indeed...

I have already had some conservative friends of mine email it to me saying...

"see? see? even the librul NYT thinks Blanco is to blame"

[PassingFair]

19. That's what a woman at work said to me!

Her eyes bulged when I told her I hardly considered the NYT a liberal news source. They think the NYT is a "commie" paper. I had to remind her that one of their reporters is in jail because she refuses to implicate the *administration on the Plame incident.
She couldn't even define what the "left" wanted, anyway. This country is so far to the wrong that there is no left.

[JNelson6563]

16. That's not what I got out of it

I came away from that article with the understanding that Team Bush wouldn't send troops if Blanco didn't surrender authority to them. I was surprised to see Gonzales had told his people to see the law "creatively" so as to get help with out the surrendering of power to the Feds.

Also the quote from the "senior official" that said something like "how would it look if the fed gov. took power form a female gov. unless she were proven completely incapable of doing her job" was interesting. I don't think it was the fact she was a woman that kept them from steamrolling her but the fact she's a Democrat. The nation is so partisanly divided there is no telling what the repercussions from that would have been!

I didn't think it was all that apologetic.

Julie

[paulthompson]

17. Yes, but...

I think there were so many people involved in the struggle beween the state and federal goverment that Bush not sending troops unless Blanco surrendered authority would have to come out sooner or later. In fact, if I recall, an earlier NY Times article quoted someone from Blanco's office basically saying there was this battle between the two. So that part is coming out already.

The question is why was there a struggle, and that's where the spin and the apologists come in.

[lateo]

18. Don't forget this either...Bill Richardson Gov of AZ offered troops..

on the 29th...Blanco accepted the offer and the paperwork stalled in Washington until Thursday of that week.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

24. I agree

There wasn't anything in that article except a straightforward reporting of the facts, and I read it as a show of dillydallying on the part of this alleged administration, trying to figure out how to grab even more power and control while people's lives were lost.

This same alleged administration that screams "Blame Game!" and "Playing Politics!" every time anyone - Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, Muslim or Jew, Springer Spaniel or Attack Poodle - says something even remotely resembling that absolute truth that these bastards in the White House are completely responsible for this entire fuck-up.

It's always surprising to me how poor is the reading comprehension of some people - it's as if they decide on their bad interpretation of the first paragraph what the article says, and then blindly proceed, never noticing that they got it completely wrong.

Oh, and Posse Comitatus just prohibits Federal troops from exercising police powers. The state's National Guard can enforce those powers quite legally, while Federal entities can continue to provide relief and support, so that bullshit about not wanting to violate Posse Comitatus is just that - bullshit.

[Igel]

38. I think these are, by default,

governed by state-to-state relations.

Michigan National Guard said they waited for Blanco's request longer than for Mississippi's (Barbour's?). That seems to support my suspicion.

[lateo]

20. I found the link that exposes this lie.

http://www.alternet.org/story/25227
8 big lies about about Katrina

Check out #6
Pay particular attention to the 4th and 5th bullet from the NRP.

The Federal
Government had a mandate to respond immediately...the
option to defer to the state and local governments was
"encouraged" but not mandatory.

But Chertoff's Sept. 1 statement ignored the administration's own homeland security response plan, which directed the federal government to act on its own authority to quickly provide assistance and conduct emergency operations following a major catastrophe, pre-empting state and local authorities if necessary. According to DHS' December 2004 National Response Plan (NRP), "catastrophic events," such as what occurred in New Orleans, call for heightened and "proactive" federal involvement to manage the disaster. The response plan listed "guiding principles" to govern the response to these major events. The "Guiding Principles for Proactive Federal Response" make clear that, in these "catastrophic" cases, the federal government will operate independently to provide assistance, rather than simply supporting or cajoling state authorities:

* The primary mission is to save lives; protect critical infrastructure, property, and the environment; contain the event; and preserve national security.

* Standard procedures regarding requests for assistance may be expedited or, under extreme circumstances, suspended in the immediate aftermath of an event of catastrophic magnitude.

* Identified Federal response resources will deploy and begin necessary operations as required to commence life-safety activities.

* Notification and full coordination with States will occur, but the coordination process must not delay or impede the rapid deployment and use of critical resources. States are urged to notify and coordinate with local governments regarding a proactive Federal response.

* State and local governments are encouraged to conduct collaborative planning with the Federal Government as a part of "steady-state" preparedness for catastrophic incidents."

The NRP also says that, when responding to a catastrophic incident, the federal government should start emergency operations even in the absence of clear assessment of the situation. "A detailed and credible common operating picture may not be achievable for 24 to 48 hours (or longer) after the incident," the NRP's "Catastrophic Annex" states. "As a result, response activities must begin without the benefit of a detailed or complete situation and critical needs assessment."

[rodeodance]

26. the Feds slipped up--

[JDPriestly]

22. Just more of Bush's divisive political games.

How totally unpatriotic! How rigid! What bureaucrats! They didn't of course hesitate for a minute to break international law in order to go into Iraq, to violate universal human rights in the Guantanamo gulag or to ignore the Geneva Convention at Abu Ghraib. So much for nit-picking over legal details. So much for uniting the nation in times of crisis. Bush is a total, 100% fraud. I'll give the Bush administration credit for one thing. They are very creative when it comes to making up excuses for not doing what they should be doing. That's the advantage of being a "C" student, I guess. While others were learning their ABCs, etc., Bush was learning how to make up great sounding excuses.

[Dr Batsen D Belfry]

25. This raises two important points

1) Bush and his administration can't possibly act if it doesn't have the potential to fuck over anyone deemed an opponent

2) Preemptive action is only advisable if the Bush Administration can take cover behind loaded weapons.

DBDB

[Straight Shooter]

27. New Orleans did not "descend into chaos." It descended into FUBAR.

I really take issue with the way these writers craft their articles. Chaos implies a population out of control. What we had, and what we have, is malicious and deliberate FUBAR on the part of the bush administration.

Unrest, indeed. Yeah, I'd get a little restless myself if I've been a good citizen all my adult life and yet I'm abandoned to my own devices and left starving, without potable water, with no future and nowhere to go. Unrest. Kiss my a**.

[Sgent]

28. If you read further

there was a compromise position where the commanding general would take an oath to Gov. Blanco, but be federalized and report to Bush.

All he had to do was let Blanco be in charge instead of trying to federalize the troops, and reinforcements would have been no problem.

[John Q. Citizen]

30. Political Issues Snarled Plans for Military Help After Hurricane

September 9, 2005
Political Issues Snarled Plans for Military Help After Hurricane
By ERIC LIPTON, ERIC SCHMITT
and THOM SHANKER


WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 - As New Orleans descended into chaos last week and Louisiana's governor asked for 40,000 soldiers, President Bush's senior advisers debated whether the president should speed the arrival of active-duty troops by seizing control of the hurricane relief mission from the governor.

snip

The debate began after officials realized that Hurricane Katrina had exposed a critical flaw in the national disaster response plans created after the Sept. 11 attacks. According to the administration's senior domestic security officials, the plan failed to recognize that local police, fire and medical personnel might be incapacitated.

snip

But one senior Army officer expressed puzzlement that active-duty troops were not summoned sooner, saying 82nd Airborne troops were ready to move out from Fort Bragg, N.C., on Sunday, the day before the hurricane hit.

The call never came, administration officials said, in part because military officials believed Guard troops would get to the stricken region faster and because administration civilians worried that there could be political fallout if federal troops were forced to shoot looters.

more


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/09/national/nationalspecial/09military.html?ei=5090&en=aa642b8c89c27c01&ex=1283918400&adxnnl=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1126238795-dGCl9WlaN8lbkCHBy9hw2w&pagewanted=print

[rodeodance]

31. 4 years later and local, state and FED people were all on different

pages!!

Why?--one reason, we have a person in charge -brownie-who does NOT have any experience!! and the WH still appointed him. Simple as that!

[The Backlash Cometh]

34. Well, I'll give Blanco this, she knew that there might be unnecessary

fatalities if the military went in. Considering what they're trained to do and who they were going to meet on the streets of NO, who can blame her?

[John Q. Citizen]

35. The beauty of this piece is that it lays out the initial legal

basis the White House is trying to hide behind. It also shows that if they sent in the 82nd in a timely fashion for relief work, they could have processed people out of the dome and the civic center, because presumably the military is good at setting up and supplying portable living situations, as well as moving people.

They didn't have to send them in first as police under the insurrection act. If they sent them as disaster relief it would have made the whole situation much better from the first. They would have had people on the water and people in the air, and temporary living situations for thousands.

bush was eating cake strummin when he should have putting the resources for dealing with a flood evacuation into NOLA.

[rodeodance]

32. kick

[Gregorian]

33. Another peripheral cost of the illegal war in Iraq.

Bush got his war. The American people paid. Add in some arrogance, greed, and hate. It's that simple.