"Brownie....You're Doin' A Helluva Job"

[Obiwan]

Where was the National Guard? Where they overwhelmed or deployed somewhere else?

Ask the Democrat governor.

 

[Pogo]

Where was the National Guard? Where they overwhelmed or deployed somewhere else?

Ask the Democrat governor.

Actually most of them were deployed to Iraq.

 

[Obiwan]

Where was the National Guard? Where they overwhelmed or deployed somewhere else?

Ask the Democrat governor.

Actually most of them were deployed to Iraq.

Damn, were the rest on strike???

I doubt it.

 

[Campbell]

Remember Katrina and George W. Bush's totally unbelievable mishandling of the massive destruction and death in Louisiana, and Mississippi? I Do!

It wasn't as bad and irresponsible as Iraq but it was in the game.

During Katrina, Bush used strategery by flying over the city rather than driving through it. "Ya see, that way the terrorists can't win by hating our freedom".

I'm sure Bush told Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rove, Satan that they all did a 'heckuva job' on Iraq.

He still does. Because fact isn't a necessary commodity in the conservative mind.

Bush is a repulsive, ignorant, arrogant fool. He dodged the draft to stay out of VietNam and gave no second thought to invading a sovereign country which had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. I might point out that Bush and his cronies told an organized 935 bare faced lies in an attempt to gain backing before he invaded Saddam Hussein's country. We'll be paying for that horse shit for a hundred years.

 

[Obiwan]

Remember Katrina and George W. Bush's totally unbelievable mishandling of the massive destruction and death in Louisiana, and Mississippi? I Do!

It wasn't as bad and irresponsible as Iraq but it was in the game.

During Katrina, Bush used strategery by flying over the city rather than driving through it. "Ya see, that way the terrorists can't win by hating our freedom".

I'm sure Bush told Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rove, Satan that they all did a 'heckuva job' on Iraq.

He still does. Because fact isn't a necessary commodity in the conservative mind.

Bush is a repulsive, ignorant, arrogant fool. He dodged the draft to stay out of VietNam and gave no second thought to invading a sovereign country which had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. I might point out that Bush and his cronies told an organized 935 bare faced lies in an attempt to gain backing before he invaded Saddam Hussein's country. We'll be paying for that horse shit for a hundred years.

 

[Campbell]

Remember Katrina and George W. Bush's totally unbelievable mishandling of the massive destruction and death in Louisiana, and Mississippi? I Do!

It wasn't as bad and irresponsible as Iraq but it was in the game.

During Katrina, Bush used strategery by flying over the city rather than driving through it. "Ya see, that way the terrorists can't win by hating our freedom".

I'm sure Bush told Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rove, Satan that they all did a 'heckuva job' on Iraq.

He still does. Because fact isn't a necessary commodity in the conservative mind.

Bush is a repulsive, ignorant, arrogant fool. He dodged the draft to stay out of VietNam and gave no second thought to invading a sovereign country which had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. I might point out that Bush and his cronies told an organized 935 bare faced lies in an attempt to gain backing before he invaded Saddam Hussein's country. We'll be paying for that horse shit for a hundred years.

Letter written to president Clinton in 1998. Check the signatures:

December 18, 1998

The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States
Washington, DC

Dear Mr. President

We are writing you because we are convinced that current American policy toward Iraq is not succeeding, and that we may soon face a threat in the Middle East more serious than any we have known since the end of the Cold War. In your upcoming State of the Union Address, you have an opportunity to chart a clear and determined course for meeting this threat. We urge you to seize that opportunity, and to enunciate a new strategy that would secure the interests of the U.S. and our friends and allies around the world. That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime from power. We stand ready to offer our full support in this difficult but necessary endeavor. The policy of containment of Saddam Hussein has been steadily eroding over the past several months. As recent events have demonstrated, we can no longer depend on our partners in the Gulf War coalition to continue to uphold the sanctions or to punish Saddam when he blocks or evades UN inspections. Our ability to ensure that Saddam Hussein is not producing weapons of mass destruction, therefore, has substantially diminished. Even if full inspections were eventually to resume, which now seems highly unlikely, experience has shown that it is difficult if not impossible to monitor Iraq's chemical and biological weapons production. The lengthy period during which the inspectors will have been unable to enter many Iraqi facilities has made it even less likely that they will be able to uncover all of Saddam's secrets.
As a result, in the not-too-distant future we will be unable to determine with any reasonable level of confidence whether Iraq does or does not possess such weapons. Such uncertainty will, by itself, have a seriously destabilizing effect on the entire Middle East. It hardly needs to be added that if Saddam does acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction, as he is almost certain to do if we continue along the present course, the safety of American troops in the region, of our friends and allies like Israel and the moderate Arab states, and a significant portion of the world's supply of oil will all be put at hazard. As you have rightly declared, Mr. President, the security of the world in the first part of the 21st century will be determined largely by how we handle this threat. Given the magnitude of the threat, the current policy, which depends for its success upon the steadfastness of our coalition partners and upon the cooperation of Saddam Hussein, is dangerously inadequate.
The only acceptable strategy is one that eliminates the possibility that Iraq will be able to use or threaten to use weapons of mass destruction. In the near term, this means a willingness to undertake military action as diplomacy is clearly failing. In the long term, it means removing Saddam Hussein and his regime from power. That now needs to become the aim of American foreign policy.
We urge you to articulate this aim, and to turn your Administration's attention to implementing a strategy for removing Saddam's regime from power. This will require a full complement of diplomatic, political and military efforts.
Although we are fully aware of the dangers and difficulties in implementing this policy, we believe the dangers of failing to do so are far greater. We believe the U.S. has the authority under existing UN resolutions to take the necessary steps, including military steps, to protect our vital interests in the Gulf.
In any case, American policy cannot continue to be crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the UN Security Council. We urge you to act decisively. If you act now to end the threat of weapons of mass destruction against the U.S. or its allies, you will be acting in the most fundamental national security interests of the country. If we accept a course of weakness and drift, we put our interests and our future
at risk.
Sincerely,
Elliott Abrams Richard L. Armitag William J. Bennett Jeffrey Bergner John Bolton Paula Dobriansky
Francis Fukuyama Robert Kagan Zalmay Khalilzad William Kristol Richard Perle Peter W.Rodman
Donald Rumsfeld William Schneider, Jr. Vin Weber Paul Wolfowitz R. James Woolsey
Robert B. Zoellick

 

[Camp]

Remember Katrina and George W. Bush's totally unbelievable mishandling of the massive destruction and death in Louisiana, and Mississippi? I Do!

It wasn't as bad and irresponsible as Iraq but it was in the game.

During Katrina, Bush used strategery by flying over the city rather than driving through it. "Ya see, that way the terrorists can't win by hating our freedom".

I'm sure Bush told Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rove, Satan that they all did a 'heckuva job' on Iraq.

He still does. Because fact isn't a necessary commodity in the conservative mind.

Bush is a repulsive, ignorant, arrogant fool. He dodged the draft to stay out of VietNam and gave no second thought to invading a sovereign country which had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. I might point out that Bush and his cronies told an organized 935 bare faced lies in an attempt to gain backing before he invaded Saddam Hussein's country. We'll be paying for that horse shit for a hundred years.

Letter written to president Clinton in 1998. Check the signatures:

December 18, 1998

The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States
Washington, DC

Dear Mr. President

We are writing you because we are convinced that current American policy toward Iraq is not succeeding, and that we may soon face a threat in the Middle East more serious than any we have known since the end of the Cold War. In your upcoming State of the Union Address, you have an opportunity to chart a clear and determined course for meeting this threat. We urge you to seize that opportunity, and to enunciate a new strategy that would secure the interests of the U.S. and our friends and allies around the world. That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime from power. We stand ready to offer our full support in this difficult but necessary endeavor. The policy of containment of Saddam Hussein has been steadily eroding over the past several months. As recent events have demonstrated, we can no longer depend on our partners in the Gulf War coalition to continue to uphold the sanctions or to punish Saddam when he blocks or evades UN inspections. Our ability to ensure that Saddam Hussein is not producing weapons of mass destruction, therefore, has substantially diminished. Even if full inspections were eventually to resume, which now seems highly unlikely, experience has shown that it is difficult if not impossible to monitor Iraq's chemical and biological weapons production. The lengthy period during which the inspectors will have been unable to enter many Iraqi facilities has made it even less likely that they will be able to uncover all of Saddam's secrets.
As a result, in the not-too-distant future we will be unable to determine with any reasonable level of confidence whether Iraq does or does not possess such weapons. Such uncertainty will, by itself, have a seriously destabilizing effect on the entire Middle East. It hardly needs to be added that if Saddam does acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction, as he is almost certain to do if we continue along the present course, the safety of American troops in the region, of our friends and allies like Israel and the moderate Arab states, and a significant portion of the world's supply of oil will all be put at hazard. As you have rightly declared, Mr. President, the security of the world in the first part of the 21st century will be determined largely by how we handle this threat. Given the magnitude of the threat, the current policy, which depends for its success upon the steadfastness of our coalition partners and upon the cooperation of Saddam Hussein, is dangerously inadequate.
The only acceptable strategy is one that eliminates the possibility that Iraq will be able to use or threaten to use weapons of mass destruction. In the near term, this means a willingness to undertake military action as diplomacy is clearly failing. In the long term, it means removing Saddam Hussein and his regime from power. That now needs to become the aim of American foreign policy.
We urge you to articulate this aim, and to turn your Administration's attention to implementing a strategy for removing Saddam's regime from power. This will require a full complement of diplomatic, political and military efforts.
Although we are fully aware of the dangers and difficulties in implementing this policy, we believe the dangers of failing to do so are far greater. We believe the U.S. has the authority under existing UN resolutions to take the necessary steps, including military steps, to protect our vital interests in the Gulf.
In any case, American policy cannot continue to be crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the UN Security Council. We urge you to act decisively. If you act now to end the threat of weapons of mass destruction against the U.S. or its allies, you will be acting in the most fundamental national security interests of the country. If we accept a course of weakness and drift, we put our interests and our future
at risk.
Sincerely,
Elliott Abrams Richard L. Armitag William J. Bennett Jeffrey Bergner John Bolton Paula Dobriansky
Francis Fukuyama Robert Kagan Zalmay Khalilzad William Kristol Richard Perle Peter W.Rodman
Donald Rumsfeld William Schneider, Jr. Vin Weber Paul Wolfowitz R. James Woolsey
Robert B. Zoellick

All the turds who got us in that losers quagmire of Iraq. Most of the people who signed that letter belong in jails or should have been put in front of firing squads years ago.

 

[Camp]

Where was the National Guard? Where they overwhelmed or deployed somewhere else?

Ask the Democrat governor.

Actually most of them were deployed to Iraq.

Bailing out the Bush administration's blunder. Most of them didn't want anything to do with the guard when they got home, even the unit that arrived in time to help with Katrina. Great snap shot of how Bush screwed over the Guard and degraded the US military.

www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,Defensewatch_092005_NG,00.html

 

[Pogo]

Where was the National Guard? Where they overwhelmed or deployed somewhere else?

Ask the Democrat governor.

Actually most of them were deployed to Iraq.

Damn, were the rest on strike???

I doubt it.

I stand corrected -- I read my own source backwards. It seems 40% were in Iraq, not left at home:

>> There were obstacles to amassing that sort of force. Almost 40 percent of Louisiana's National Guard is on active duty in Iraq; this left the governor with only 4,000 members to muster over the weekend, and a total of 5,700 by Monday.

Aware of this problem, other governors, including New Mexico's Bill Richardson, offered to help. On Sunday afternoon, Richardson called Blanco offering his own state militia, and Blanco readily accepted.

That did not solve the problem.

Because of legal guidelines, Richardson could not send a single soldier until approval came from Washington, specifically the National Guard Bureau. Washington, meanwhile, could not give such approval without a formal request from Blanco.

That request was made Tuesday, after New Orleans was almost completely under water. It would be two more days, until late Thursday, before that authority would come from Washington. And by then, almost four days had passed since Katrina hit the coast. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, were dead. <<​

Clearly a bureaucratic clusterfuck but to the present point it means that less than half the Louisiana National Guard was in Iraq attacking a country that had not struck us and had nothing to do with 9/11, not more than half.

As regards the aforementioned timeline of "advance warning", note the lead paragraph of the same story:

>> Late on Aug. 27, less than 36 hours before Hurricane Katrina crashed into the Gulf Coast, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin's home phone rang. It was Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center in Florida.

Katrina was a ''worst-case" pattern, Mayfield warned. A mandatory evacuation of New Orleans was necessary.

Mayfield's advisory was in an official timeline of events compiled by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the National Hurricane Center. <<
​

-- Which means the city was getting the phone call of this warning right about the same time I was getting my phone call about it. 36 hours before landfall.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Remember Katrina and George W. Bush's totally unbelievable mishandling of the massive destruction and death in Louisiana, and Mississippi? I Do!

It wasn't as bad and irresponsible as Iraq but it was in the game.

During Katrina, Bush used strategery by flying over the city rather than driving through it. "Ya see, that way the terrorists can't win by hating our freedom".

I'm sure Bush told Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rove, Satan that they all did a 'heckuva job' on Iraq.

He still does. Because fact isn't a necessary commodity in the conservative mind.

Bush is a repulsive, ignorant, arrogant fool. He dodged the draft to stay out of VietNam and gave no second thought to invading a sovereign country which had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. I might point out that Bush and his cronies told an organized 935 bare faced lies in an attempt to gain backing before he invaded Saddam Hussein's country. We'll be paying for that horse shit for a hundred years.

Throwing out the bullshit in hopes that something will stick eh noob?
Everything you posted was complete crap.
And if you're so worried about debt why aren't you whining about the 18 soon to be 20 trillion obammy the race baiter has racked up?

 

[eagle7_31]

Remember Katrina and George W. Bush's totally unbelievable mishandling of the massive destruction and death in Louisiana, and Mississippi? I Do!

It wasn't as bad and irresponsible as Iraq but it was in the game.

I recall the Gov of La and the New Orleans Mayor being a lot worse than Bush. But lwing loons don't give a damn.

 

[Campbell]

Remember Katrina and George W. Bush's totally unbelievable mishandling of the massive destruction and death in Louisiana, and Mississippi? I Do!

It wasn't as bad and irresponsible as Iraq but it was in the game.

During Katrina, Bush used strategery by flying over the city rather than driving through it. "Ya see, that way the terrorists can't win by hating our freedom".

I'm sure Bush told Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rove, Satan that they all did a 'heckuva job' on Iraq.

He still does. Because fact isn't a necessary commodity in the conservative mind.

Bush is a repulsive, ignorant, arrogant fool. He dodged the draft to stay out of VietNam and gave no second thought to invading a sovereign country which had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. I might point out that Bush and his cronies told an organized 935 bare faced lies in an attempt to gain backing before he invaded Saddam Hussein's country. We'll be paying for that horse shit for a hundred years.

Throwing out the bullshit in hopes that something will stick eh noob?
Everything you posted was complete crap.
And if you're so worried about debt why aren't you whining about the 18 soon to be 20 trillion obammy the race baiter has racked up?

Have you stopped to think about the fact that nearly two trillion of the new debt has gone to pay interest on the Reagan/Bushes debt:

....................................Total U S Debt...................................

09/30/2009 $11,909,829,003,511.75(80% Of All Debt Across 232 Years Borrowed By Reagan And Bushes)

09/30/2008 $10,024,724,896,912.49(Times Square Debt Clock Modified To Accommodate Tens of Trillions)

09/30/2007 $9,007,653,372,262.48
09/30/2006 $8,506,973,899,215.23
09/30/2005 $7,932,709,661,723.50
09/30/2004 $7,379,052,696,330.32

09/30/2003 $6,783,231,062,743.62(Second Bush Tax Cuts Enacted Using Reconciliation)

09/30/2002 $6,228,235,965,597.16

09/30/2001 $5,807,463,412,200.06(First Bush Tax Cuts Enacted Using Reconciliation)

09/30/2000 $5,674,178,209,886.86(Administration And Congress Arguing About How To Use Surplus)

09/30/1999 $5,656,270,901,615.43(First Surplus Generated...On Track To Pay Off Debt By 2012)

09/30/1998 $5,526,193,008,897.62
09/30/1997 $5,413,146,011,397.34
09/30/1996 $5,224,810,939,135.73
09/29/1995 $4,973,982,900,709.39
09/30/1994 $4,692,749,910,013.32 (President Clinton Raised Taxes On The Wealthy)
09/30/1993 $4,411,488,883,139.38 ( Debt Quadrupled By Reagan/Bush41)
09/30/1992 $4,064,620,655,521.66
09/30/1991 $3,665,303,351,697.03
09/28/1990 $3,233,313,451,777.25
09/29/1989 $2,857,430,960,187.32
09/30/1988 $2,602,337,712,041.16
09/30/1987 $2,350,276,890,953.00
09/30/1986 $2,125,302,616,658.42
09/30/1985 $1,823,103,000,000.00
09/30/1984 $1,572,266,000,000.00
09/30/1983 $1,377,210,000,000.00

09/30/1982 $1,142,034,000,000.00(Total Debt Passes $1 Trillion)((Reagan Slashed Tax Rates To Pre Depression Levels)

09/30/1981 $997,855,000,000.00

The President's spending looks pretty good:

 

[Rotagilla]

Where was the National Guard? Where they overwhelmed or deployed somewhere else?

Ask the Democrat governor.

Actually most of them were deployed to Iraq.

Damn, were the rest on strike???

I doubt it.

you think the guard self deploys?
c'mon, man..it isn't funny.

 

[Rotagilla]

Where was the National Guard? Where they overwhelmed or deployed somewhere else?

Ask the Democrat governor.

Actually most of them were deployed to Iraq.

Bailing out the Bush administration's blunder. Most of them didn't want anything to do with the guard when they got home, even the unit that arrived in time to help with Katrina. Great snap shot of how Bush screwed over the Guard and degraded the US military.

www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,Defensewatch_092005_NG,00.html

ok we get it..you have an agenda...you're badly overplaying your hand, though.

 

[Obiwan]

Where was the National Guard? Where they overwhelmed or deployed somewhere else?

Ask the Democrat governor.

Actually most of them were deployed to Iraq.

Damn, were the rest on strike???

I doubt it.

you think the guard self deploys?
c'mon, man..it isn't funny.

Of course not... It takes an order from the governor.

 

[Camp]

Where was the National Guard? Where they overwhelmed or deployed somewhere else?

Ask the Democrat governor.

Actually most of them were deployed to Iraq.

Damn, were the rest on strike???

I doubt it.

you think the guard self deploys?
c'mon, man..it isn't funny.

Of course not... It takes an order from the governor.

It takes an order from the President to deploy a National Guard overseas.

 

[Claudette]

Remember Katrina and George W. Bush's totally unbelievable mishandling of the massive destruction and death in Louisiana, and Mississippi? I Do!

It wasn't as bad and irresponsible as Iraq but it was in the game.

You talking about when Nagin went to prison for corruption over the way he handled the money?

No he isn't. Nor is he talking about the complete failure of both the State and local Govt. A State and local Govt. that had loads of warning and a President who declared the area a natural disaster even before the hurricane hit.

He just likes to blame Bush. Its easier than blaming the responsible.

Hell. The Gov. made sure her ass wasn't in LA when the hurricane hit.

 

[Campbell]

Remember Katrina and George W. Bush's totally unbelievable mishandling of the massive destruction and death in Louisiana, and Mississippi? I Do!

It wasn't as bad and irresponsible as Iraq but it was in the game.

You talking about when Nagin went to prison for corruption over the way he handled the money?

No he isn't. Nor is he talking about the complete failure of both the State and local Govt. A State and local Govt. that had loads of warning and a President who declared the area a natural disaster even before the hurricane hit.

He just likes to blame Bush. Its easier than blaming the responsible.

Hell. The Gov. made sure her ass wasn't in LA when the hurricane hit.

Bush arrived a week later...in U S One

'Course that was after the maggots had already formed where 1500 citizens were drowned. That seems like a trivial number of deaths when compared to the 4500 killed in Iraq and then there's the 35,000 seriously wounded plus 150,000 Iraqis who were called collateral. I wouldn't want to stand within a mile of that monkey.....he's too dangerous. Too much shit happens around his activities.

Here's his declaration of victory.....before the war even got heated up:

 

[Claudette]

If they'd left then they wouldn't have drowned. State and Local Govt. should have enforced a mandatory evacuation. They had hundreds of school busses that could have been used.

Blame Bush. It's easier.

 

[healthmyths]

Remember Katrina and George W. Bush's totally unbelievable mishandling of the massive destruction and death in Louisiana, and Mississippi? I Do!

It wasn't as bad and irresponsible as Iraq but it was in the game.

You talking about when Nagin went to prison for corruption over the way he handled the money?

No, he's talking about how Bush and the republicans criminally mishandled the response to a national emergency and 1500 people died.

V
Bush couldn't control the weather, but Nagin could sure control NO's preparation and reactions.

But we know your answer to that. Democrats aren't responsible for their own incompetence...

Brownie.....You're Doin' A Helluva Job!

LMAO!!!

Shifting Blame in the Katrina Tragedy | Heartlander Magazine
The primary responsibility for dealing with emergencies does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to local and state officials, who are charged by law with the management of the crucial first response to disasters. First response should be carried out by local and state emergency personnel under the supervision of the governor and her emergency operations center.

The actions and inactions of Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin are a national disgrace due to their failure to implement the previously established evacuation plans of the state and city.

Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin cannot claim they were surprised by the extent of the damage and the need to evacuate so many people. Detailed written plans were already in place to evacuate more than a million people. The plans projected that 300,000 people would need transportation in the event of a hurricane like Katrina. If the plans had been implemented, numerous lives would likely have been saved.

In addition to the evacuation plans, local, state, and federal officials held a simulated hurricane drill 13 months ago, in which widespread flooding supposedly trapped 300,000 people inside New Orleans. The exercise simulated the evacuation of more than a million residents. The problems identified in the simulation apparently were not solved.



Close Call Gave Warning

A year ago, as Hurricane Ivan approached, New Orleans ordered an evacuation but did not use city or school buses to help people evacuate. As a result, many of the poorest citizens were unable to evacuate. Fortunately, the hurricane changed course and did not hit New Orleans, but both Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin acknowledged the need for a better evacuation plan.

Again, however, they failed to take corrective actions. In 1998, during a threat by Hurricane George, 14,000 people were sent to the Superdome, and theft and vandalism were rampant because of inadequate security. These problems were not corrected.

The New Orleans contingency plan is still, as of this writing, on the city's Web site. It states, "The safe evacuation of threatened populations is one of the principle [sic] reasons for developing a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan." But the plan was apparently ignored as Katrina headed toward the city.



Mayor's Office Responsible

Mayor Nagin was responsible for giving the order for mandatory evacuation and supervising the actual evacuation. According to state law, his Office of Emergency Preparedness (not the federal government) must coordinate with the state on elements of evacuation and assist in directing the transportation of evacuees to staging areas.

Mayor Nagin had to be encouraged by the governor to contact the National Hurricane Center before he finally, belatedly, issued the order for mandatory evacuation. And sadly, it apparently took a personal call from President George W. Bush to urge the governor to order the mandatory evacuation.

The city's evacuation plan states, "The city of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas." But even though the city has enough school and transit buses to evacuate 12,000 citizens per fleet run, the mayor did not use them. To compound the problem, the buses were not moved to high ground; as a result, they were flooded.

The plan also states, "special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves or who require specific lifesaving assistance. Additional personnel will be recruited to assist in evacuation procedures as needed." This was not done.



Mayor Shifted Blame

The evacuation plan warned, "if an evacuation order is issued without the mechanisms needed to disseminate the information to the affected persons, then we face the possibility of having large numbers of people either stranded and left to the mercy of a storm, or left in an area impacted by toxic materials." That is precisely what happened because of the mayor's failure.

Instead of evacuating the people, the mayor ordered the refugees to the Superdome and Convention Center without adequate security and no provisions for food, water, and sanitary conditions. As a result people died, and there was even a rape committed in these facilities.

In an emergency, the first requirement is for the city's emergency center to be linked to the state emergency operations center. This was not done.

Mayor Nagin failed in his responsibility to provide public safety and to manage the orderly evacuation of the citizens of New Orleans. Instead of admitting responsibility, the mayor blamed Gov. Blanco and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.



Governor Also Responsible

The federal government does not have the authority to intervene in a state emergency without the request of the state's governor. President Bush declared an emergency prior to Katrina hitting New Orleans, so the only action required for federal assistance to be sent was for Gov. Blanco to request the specific type of assistance she needed.

Unfortunately, Blanco failed to send a timely request for specific aid.

In addition, unlike the governors of New York, Oklahoma, and California in past disasters, Gov. Blanco failed to take charge of the situation and ensure that the state emergency operation facility was in constant contact with Mayor Nagin and FEMA. It is likely that numerous people died because of the failure of Gov. Blanco to implement the state plan, which mentions the possible need to evacuate up to one million people.

The state plan clearly gives the governor the authority to declare an emergency, send in state resources to the disaster area, and request necessary federal assistance.

State legislators and governors nationwide need to update their contingency plans and the operation procedures for state emergency centers. Hurricane Katrina had been forecast for days, but that will not always be the case with a disaster (terrorist attacks, for example). It must be made clear that the governor and locally elected officials are in charge of the "first response."