Daily Kos has a Katrina responsibility timeline.

[lateo]

Check this out. It lays out the complete timeline of responses between Gov Blanco and Bush. The real meat of it is posted below.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/7/03232/64789

Finally, although not mentioned in your report, many people have been claiming that several federal agencies were prevented from responding due to the Governor not specifically asking for them. But, according to the United States National Response Plan which can be found at http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interweb/assetlibrary/NRP_FullText.pdf this is also completely untrue. Here are some relevant quotations from the United States National Response Plan:

"All PRESIDENTIALLY DECLARED DISASTERS AND EMERGENCIES UNDER THE STAFFORD ACT ARE CONSIDERED INCIDENTS OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE." (NRP, 7) (This is a CRITICAL piece of information which your reporters don't seem to have noticed. In fact, the initial emergency declaration from the White House mentions the Stafford Act by name.)

Even more damning...

"When such conditions exist and time does not permit approval from higher headquarters, local military commands and responsible officers from the DOD are authorized by DOD directive and pre-approved by the Secretary of Defense to take necessary action to response to the request of civil authorities." (NPR, 42)

"Standard procedures regarding requests for assistance may be expedited, or under extreme circumstances, suspended in the immediate aftermath of an event of catastrophic magnitude." (NRP, 44)

[mzmolly]

1. It's all laid out in black and white.

Recommended, thanks for posting.

[lateo]

2. kick...don't let this die.