Smoking Gun Memo #1: FEMA waited too long, Fox news reports.

[xyboymil]

if this has been posted already, it needs posting AGAIN:

WASHINGTON — The government's disaster chief waited until hours after Hurricane Katrina (search) had already struck the Gulf Coast before asking his boss to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security employees to the region — and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal documents.

Michael Brown (search), director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff (search) roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29. Brown said that among duties of these employees was to "convey a positive image" about the government's response for victims

Brown's memo to Chertoff described Katrina as "this near catastrophic event" but otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely ended, "Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our responsibilities."

The initial responses of the government and Brown came under escalating criticism as the breadth of destruction and death grew. President Bush and Congress on Tuesday pledged separate investigations into the federal response to Katrina. "Governments at all levels failed," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168634,00.html

What a clueless asshole. :mad:

[shraby]

1. And that was for PR purposes, not search and

rescue or food and water delivery.

[Halliburton]

2. "Brownie's doing a heck of a job."

[chalky]

3. FAUX reports? FAUX??

First Scarbrough excoriates the shrub and now FAUX. Hmph.

[berni_mccoy]

4. I Think Fox is reporting this because

The Admin is SETTING up FEMA as the FALL GUY. So it's ok for Fox to bash FEMA.

[Cosmocat]

10. ABSOLUTELY ...

It is the last line of defense ...

The first line is "we need to see what worked ... and what didn't work ..."

The second line is "this is a disaster of unprecidented proportions ..."

The third line is "NO BLAME GAME, but throw the local officials to the wolves ..."

THEN, if all else fails and a head has to roll, it will be Brown's ...

[chieftain]

13. My biggest fear during W's first trip to the Gulf was if after

his tour and briefing, he would have turned to hapless Mike Brown and fired him while cameras recorded this "Bullhorn moment". I was so relieved when Doofus called out to Brownie that he was doing a heck of a job.
Although the moment has passed for political gain, I do believe that you are right that the next line of defense for these incompetents is to fire Brown. Delay refused to back him up when questioned last night.It will be interesting to see if his head rolls when Cheney gets back from his tour of the Gulf.

[tedoll78]

5. This memo, in combo with Blanco's request..

pretty much cinches the case.

[Old and In the Way]

6. A memo? Might a phonecall be in order?

Bad idea rolling FEMA into a DHS....it added another layer of management that slowed down reaction.

"Governments at all levels failed," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. Sorry Susan, explain what Nagin and Blanco could have done differently to minimize their failures? They played by the rules....our federal government didn't.

[kerrygoddess]

7. Internal Documents: FEMA Chief Waited Until After Storm Hit

Internal Documents: FEMA Chief Waited Until After Storm Hit
September 6th, 2005

It’s time for resignations and rolling heads… AP News reports that Michael Brown was a little slow in sending a memo to Chertoff requesting help for what he termed a “near catastrophic event”.

Are these people just plain DAFT?

The government’s disaster chief waited until hours after Hurricane Katrina had already struck the Gulf Coast before asking his boss to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security employees to the region — and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal documents.

MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=454

[SoCalDemocrat]

8. This is what Bush wants

The administration wanted to remove FEMA and put it under HLS. This is exactly what they want, outrage at FEMA.

HLS calls the shots, FEMA reports to them.

[WCGreen]

9. You are so right..

That is why Fox was leaked the memo....

The base will say, see the administration is working on it...

But only if Brown is fired within 24 to 48 hours....

[Independent_Liberal]

11. Hmmmm.... Another "smoking gun memo"?

Drip, drip, drip.

[Tesibria]

12. The memo is now available .

see http://wid.ap.org/documents/dhskatrina.pdf