American’s Want Answers to the Failures to Respond to Disaster in N.O.

[kerrygoddess]

American’s Want Answers to the Failures to Respond to Disaster in New Orleans
September 3rd, 2005

AP News reports that:

Bush had the legal authority to order the National Guard to the disaster area himself, as he did after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks . But the troops four years ago were deployed for national security protection, and presidents of both parties traditionally defer to governors to deploy their own National Guardsmen and request help from other states when it comes to natural disasters.

In addition to Guard help, the federal government could have activated, but did not, a major air support plan under a pre-existing contract with airlines. The program, called Civilian Reserve Air Fleet, lets the government quickly put private cargo and passenger planes into service.

The CRAF provision has been activated twice, once for the Persian Gulf War and again for the Iraq war.

It appears the American public isn’t the alone in wanting answers to the slow response from the National Guard and the Federal Government. AP News is reporting that more than a few Republicans and Democrats in Congress want answers too…

Several states ready and willing to send National Guard troops to the rescue in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans didn’t get the go-ahead until days after the storm struck — a delay nearly certain to be investigated by Congress.

Republicans and Democrats alike in Congress are just beginning to ask why one of the National Guard’s most trusted roles — disaster relief — was so uneven, delayed and chaotic this time around.

MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=418

[kerrygoddess]

1. Republicans Realize Limits of Bush Administration

We’ve already seen plenty of conservative writers criticize Bush’s handling of Katrina and now we are seeing this extend to politicians. Rep. John Sweeney ( R-N.Y.) urged the Bush Administration to bring in Rudy Giuliani for help.

AP also reports that Newt Gingrich criticized the Bush administration for being sluggish and urged the president to name Giuliani as the White House point person for relief efforts. Gingrich said the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina “puts into question all of the Homeland Security and Northern Command planning for the last four years, because if we can’t respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we’re prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?”

http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=419