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-- More Breaking: GOP blocks INDEPENDENT Katrina investigation
More Breaking: GOP blocks INDEPENDENT Katrina investigation
Last post for today, I promise. The GOP Senate has just killed the bill right down party lines to try and set up an independent commission, similar to the 9/11 Commission, to investigate what went wrong on all levels of government:
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| Senate Kills Bid for Katrina Commission By LARA JAKES JORDAN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Republicans on Wednesday scuttled an attempt by Sen. Hillary Clinton to establish an independent, bipartisan panel patterned after the 9/11 Commission to investigate what went wrong with federal, state and local governments' response to Hurricane Katrina. The New York Democrat's bid to establish the panel - which would have also made recommendations on how to improve the government's disaster response apparatus - failed to win the two-thirds majority needed to overcome procedural hurdles. Clinton got only 44 votes, all from Democrats and independent Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont. Fifty-four Republicans all voted no. "Just as with 9/11, we did not get to the point where we believed we understood what happened until an independent investigation was conducted," Clinton said. The Senate vote is hardly likely to be the last word on whether to create an independent commission or as an alternative a special congressional committee to investigate Katrina. The 9/11 Commission was established in 2002 after resistance from Republicans and the White House, and opinion polls show the public strongly supports the idea. In a CNN/USA Today Gallup poll taken Sept. 8-11, 70 percent of those surveyed supported an independent panel to investigate the government's response to Katrina. Only 29 percent were opposed. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has rebuffed a bid by House and Senate GOP leaders to create a committee patterned after the 1987 Iran-Contra panel that would have a GOP majority - reflecting their dominance of Congress. Reid has instead vowed that any bid by Republican leaders to establish a special bipartisan committee involving lawmakers from both House and Senate will go forward only if Democrats have equal representation. Separately, Senate Homeland Security Committee chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Wednesday that Post-9/11 changes to improve the government response to catastrophic disasters failed their first major test in Hurricane Katrina's wake. Despite billions of dollars to boost disaster preparedness at all levels of government, the response to Katrina was plagued by confusion, communication failures and widespread lack of coordination, said Collins as she opened hearings into the disaster. "At this point, we would have expected a sharp, crisp response to this terrible tragedy," Collins said. "Instead, we witnessed what appeared to be a sluggish initial response." The hearing marked Congress' first step in investigating major gaps in the country's readiness and response systems that Katrina exposed. It comes even as Republican and Democrats grapple over whether to appoint an unusual House-Senate panel to investigate the matter, or to create an 9/11-style commission. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the committee, said the response to Katrina "has shaken the public's confidence in the ability of government at all levels to protect them in a crisis." Lawmakers said they did not ask officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the Homeland Security Department to appear at the hearing out of fear that would disrupt the ongoing recovery process in the battered Gulf Coast. Instead, a slew of former city and state officials testified about their experiences in facing faced major disasters in their communities. Calling Katrina a "national tragedy," former New Orleans Mayor Marc H. Morial put the primary responsibility for disaster response squarely on the federal government's shoulders. Morial, president of the National Urban League, was New Orleans' mayor from 1994 to 2004. Meanwhile, the House, by voice vote, on Wednesday approved legislation that provides liability protections for people and groups providing volunteer aid for Hurricane Katrina victims. House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said the Red Cross has cited lawsuit concerns among people interested in taking evacuees into their homes and that doctors traveling to states where they are not licensed face increased liability. The bill, which needs Senate action, would protect from lawsuit volunteers who in good faith and without expectation of compensation offer aid or medical assistance. It would not protect those who willfully carry out criminal acts. Other bills, however, to cut federal red tape and otherwise make it easier to get aid to Katrina victims have hit a slow patch as lawmakers wrestle over how to shape their response. They include proposals to provide Medicaid health benefits to those made homeless by Katrina, lift work rules for welfare recipients, and implement tax changes to help hurricane victims and charitable donors. � 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...-09-14-14-37-31 |
Re: More Breaking: GOP blocks INDEPENDENT Katrina investigation
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| Originally posted by MisterOpus1 The GOP Senate has just killed the bill right down party lines to try and set up an independent commission, similar to the 9/11 Commission, |
Heck, even conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh spoke out against that one. 
And yeah, to keep it on topic - it's rather appalling if you ask me. These guys do anything and everything to avoid accountability. They may as well seal any and all documents concerning the Hurricane's aftermath (and their lack of preparedness for it) in the Reagan library - with all of the other files they don't want the public to have access to.
Re: More Breaking: GOP blocks INDEPENDENT Katrina investigation
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| Originally posted by MisterOpus1 Last post for today, I promise. The GOP Senate has just killed the bill right down party lines to try and set up an independent commission, similar to the 9/11 Commission, to investigate what went wrong on all levels of government: Now why would Senate Republicans go off and do such a thing? Don't they want an independent looksee here? Do they really think the public won't get a slight bit pissed about their, err, umm, filibuster? |
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Sen. Clinton's "Katrina Commission" would be modeled after the "independent" 9/11 Commission. I can see it now: Democrat Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, whose main imperative is covering up her own culpability, will be the next Jamie Gorelick; Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard, the local corrupt-o-crat who got his 15 minutes of fame on "Meet the Press" last week, will be the next Richard Ben-Veniste. And this time for "diversity," maybe they'll call on Randall "Black people are eating corpses�oh, never mind" Robinson and rapper Kanye "It's all about me" West to share their deep expertise. Despite the abject failures of local and state officials to prepare for the worst, abide by their own evacuation plans, maintain an effective police force, and crack down on looters, Sen. Clinton's commission would only examine the "adequacy of federal response efforts." Translation: Bash Bush. |
you know...the Dems whined about this last week. political infighting
there will be an investigation and i cant wait.
speaking of which ...
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| 9/11 commissioners blast Katrina response They say government has failed to act on recommendations From David Ensor CNN Washington Bureau WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Members of the former 9/11 commission blasted Congress and the Bush administration Wednesday for inaction on some of its recommendations, which the former chairman said could have saved lives in Hurricane Katrina. "If Congress does not act, people will die -- I cannot put it more simply than that," said former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, referring to what could happen in the next major disaster or terrorist attack. He said it was a "scandal" that more has not been done to improve the job of first responders in the four years since the terrorist attacks of September 2001. "Hurricane Katrina pointed out serious flaws in our emergency preparedness and response. And what is frustrating to us is that [these are] many of the same problems we saw in 9/11 and the response to that disaster," said Kean, a Republican The former commissioners, speaking to reporters at a press conference, called for Congress to take radio frequencies away from broadcasters and give them to first responders well before 2009, as is currently planned under law. They urged states and local governments to adopt incident command systems, making clear which agency is in charge, and said Congress should financially penalize states that do not do so. They also complained that reports the Department of Homeland Security should have delivered months ago on risk and vulnerability factors around the nation have yet to be completed. Tim Roemer, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana who served on the commission, said it was "inexcusable and unacceptable" that Congress has yet to enact some of the 9/11 recommendations that "could have made a difference" in Louisiana during the early days after the hurricane. Malfunctioning radios using different frequencies contributed to the high death toll in the World Trade Center buildings, and public safety officials in New Orleans have reported widespread communications problems as well. "Government has no higher responsibility than the defense of its people," Kean said, "so this ought to be at the top of the priority list." Opposition to giving the radio frequencies to first responders before 2009 has come from broadcasting companies, which had been given them for use during the transition to digital and high-definition television. The bipartisan 9/11 panel -- formally known as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States -- released its final report in a nearly 570-page book in July 2004. Find this article at: http://edition.cnn.com/2005/POLITIC...sion/index.html |
gee Josh, wasn't their idea in the first place to homologate the mega bureaurocracy that they are complaining about now? i also remember the huge Congressional push for it too.
Re: Re: More Breaking: GOP blocks INDEPENDENT Katrina investigation
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| Originally posted by Fir3start3r I don't blame them. This Katrna Commission was to be modelled after the 9/11 Commission. I know I mentioned this a couple days ago but no one wants a repeat of the 9/11 Commission fiasco... >>Source<< |
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| *All necessary conditions for federal relief were met on August 28. Pursuant to Section 502 of the Stafford Act, "[t]he declaration of an emergency by the President makes Federal emergency assistance available," and the President made such a declaration on August 28. The public record indicates that several additional days passed before such assistance was actually made available to the State; *The Governor must make a timely request for such assistance, which meets the requirements of federal law. The report states that "[e]xcept to the extent that an emergency involves primarily Federal interests, both declarations of major disaster and declarations of emergency must be triggered by a request to the President from the Governor of the affected state"; *The Governor did indeed make such a request, which was both timely and in compliance with federal law. The report finds that "Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco requested by letter dated August 27, 2005...that the President declare an emergency for the State of Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina for the time period from August 26, 2005 and continuing pursuant to [applicable Federal statute]" and "Governor Blanco's August 27, 2005 request for an emergency declaration also included her determination...that `the incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of disaster." http://www.house.gov/judiciary_demo...portpr91305.pdf |
what are we really talking about here? i mean what was all the fuss about in the days following the storm. security, right? or lack thereof? needed supplies to the most desperate i.e. Superdome, Convention center? no one should disagree that the rescue efforts of people still trapped on their homes and the heroes involved in those thousands of airlifts were phenomonal.
that dumb **** turned down and didn't ask for Federal troops until Wednesday. she's regretted it ever since. there's video to prove it.
http://thepoliticalteen.net/2005/09...ncocnndaybreak/
don't fall for her spin about not wanting federal troops in the city arresting looters all the while saying that "when she asked the president for everything on Saturday, she thought that meant everything"
"NOT ONLY IS SHE A LIAR AND INCOMPETENT. SHE IS AN INCOMPETENT LIAR"
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| Originally posted by Q5echo what are we really talking about here? i mean what was all the fuss about in the days following the storm. security, right? or lack thereof? needed supplies to the most desperate i.e. Superdome, Convention center? no one should disagree that the rescue efforts of people still trapped on their homes and the heroes involved in those thousands of airlifts were phenomonal. that dumb **** turned down and didn't ask for Federal troops until Wednesday. she's regretted it ever since. there's video to prove it. http://thepoliticalteen.net/2005/09...ncocnndaybreak/ don't fall for her spin about not wanting federal troops in the city arresting looters all the while saying that "when she asked the president for everything on Saturday, she thought that meant everything" "NOT ONLY IS SHE A LIAR AND INCOMPETENT. SHE IS AN INCOMPETENT LIAR" |
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Q Just two quick ones. We understand that a total of about 30,000 Guard will be in the four states. You say 24,000 in Mississippi and Louisiana. How many of those in Mississippi and Louisiana will be police, military police? GEN. HONOR�: Sir, I don't have those numbers in front of me, but I will defer to my good friend Steve Blum (Lieut. Gen. Steven Blum � Chief, National Guard Bureau), who has that. And I will follow up with you within a few minutes and get that to you. But there is a major effort in Louisiana for security-type forces. And I will tell you that the majority of them right now -- Louisiana has 4,700 of its own National Guard committed to that effort. And the majority of the force flow -- there will be 1,400 additional security forces in Louisiana today, with an additional 1,400 tomorrow are on that force flow buildup, as I gave it to you. But we will get that to you in detail within a few minutes, sir. It's fair to say the majority of the forces going to Louisiana are security-type forces, sir. MR. WHITMAN: All right. Let's go over here to Jamie and then over to -- (off mike). Q General, Jamie McIntyre from CNN. To what extent is this additional assistance you've outlined today a response to a request from the state governors in Louisiana, Mississippi? And if so, can you tell us when specifically you got that request? GEN. HONOR�: Yes, sir. The process starts, sir, in this particular event, with a request Friday of last week, as the approximate date for defense coordinating offices to be established in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Those were established in those states over Friday and Saturday. Q Sir, I'm specifically interested in how soon after the hurricane hit and the extent of the damage became known did the governors request additional assistance above and beyond what they had requested before? GEN. HONOR�: Sir, that started to happen on Saturday, as the hurricane was approaching, and was executed with the movement of my headquarters on Sunday to Mississippi, where we established a joint -- JTF headquarters here in Mississippi with a forward cell of the 5th United States Army in Louisiana. And on Sunday we established JTF-Katrina, with myself as the task force commander. And since that time, we've continued to flow naval air and Army helicopter support and other assets, as requested by the governor, through FEMA. And that is the process, and you know that works. The governor identified a requirement. It goes to FEMA. That requirement is sent to Northern Command, my boss, Admiral Keating, as parallel to General McNeill at Forces Command. And we have started to flow the forces to your region. Over. MR. DI RITA: You know -- it's Larry DiRita -- I think what people are interested in, if you know, is when specifically or if indeed did the governors specifically ask for additional security forces and when that might have been? And if you don't know that, we'll try and find it, but that would be -- I think that's a little more refined aspect of what the reporter's asking for. GEN. HONOR�: Yeah, that was incremental. The security force piece was executed through a process called EMAC. That started on Sunday, a collaboration between the adjutant general and the National Guard Bureau to flow additional capabilities to Louisiana and to Mississippi. That flow started approximately around Sunday. Forces started moving once the eye of the hurricane had passed and we could start moving forces in and assist the states, Alabama pushed forces into Mississippi as well as forces from Texas started to flow into Louisiana, as well as other states. But that's the approximate phase of the operation. Again, that was executed through National Guard arrangements to move National Guard capability where it's needed. And that is what is happening, an extension of that, now. The DOD capability was based on requests that came from FEMA for additional ability to assist in search and rescue, and that was called a mission assignment. Those started on Sunday. And we were here on Sunday, and by Monday, the Bataan was present, as well as federal helicopters started arriving Monday to assist in the search and rescue and the sustainment operation, that that is the timeline as it was executed in the process. Any more specifics on that? Over. Q No, that's fine. http://www.dod.gov/transcripts/2005...50901-3843.html |
as you know, by law, Federalized Guard troops are very limited on what they can do in a SoE. the Stafford Act makes explicit terms of this. it was intended for the request of DOD level assistance of security force be seperate. hardly a "minutia" as you put it.
the President can, within the SoE, delegate the movement of any and all forces necessary to stage and act upon the SoE within Stafford Act guidelines. So, was the General "lying his ass off? no, he can't.
...doesn't have to.
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| Originally posted by Q5echo as you know, by law, Federalized Guard troops are very limited on what they can do in a SoE. the Stafford Act makes explicit terms of this. it was intended for the request of DOD level assistance of security force be seperate. hardly a "minutia" as you put it. the President can, within the SoE, delegate the movement of any and all forces necessary to stage and act upon the SoE within Stafford Act guidelines. So, was the General "lying his ass off? no, he can't. ...doesn't have to. |
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Dear Mr. President: Under the provisions of Section 501 (a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. �� 5121-5206 (Stafford Act), and implemented by 44 CFR � 206.35, I request that you declare an emergency for the State of Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina for the time period beginning August 26, 2005, and continuing. The affected areas are all the southeastern parishes including the New Orleans Metropolitan area and the mid state Interstate I-49 corridor and northern parishes along the I-20 corridor that are accepting the thousands of citizens evacuating from the areas expecting to be flooded as a result of Hurricane Katrina. In response to the situation I have taken appropriate action under State law and directed the execution of the State Emergency Plan on August 26, 2005 in accordance with Section 501 (a) of the Stafford Act. A State of Emergency has been issued for the State in order to support the evacuations of the coastal areas in accordance with our State Evacuation Plan and the remainder of the state to support the State Special Needs and Sheltering Plan. Pursuant to 44 CFR � 206.35, I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster. I am specifically requesting emergency protective measures, direct Federal Assistance, Individual and Household Program (IHP) assistance, Special Needs Program assistance, and debris removal. |
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| Originally posted by occrider The governor requested troops on Saturday as confirmed by Honore. So why were there no troops? |
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| Originally posted by Q5echo what do you think she did not have troops for exactly? |
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National Guard: Enough GIs for Storm Duty By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer Mon Aug 29, 7:52 PM ET WASHINGTON - Some 6,000 National Guard personnel in Louisiana and Mississippi who would be available to help deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are in Iraq, highlighting the changing role of America's part-time soldiers. "The juxtaposition of the mission to Iraq and the response to Katrina really demonstrates the new and changing character of the National Guard," Daniel Goure, a military analyst at the private Lexington Institute, said Monday. The war has forced the Guard into becoming an operational force, a far cry from its historic role as a strategic reserve primarily available to governors for disasters and other duties in their home states. At 1.2 million soldiers, the active duty military is simply too small to carry the load by itself when there is a large sustained deployment like Iraq. Nationally, 78,000 of the 437,000 members of the Guard force are serving overseas. As part of the transformation during the war effort, the National Guard has promised governors that at least 50 percent of soldiers and airmen will be available for stateside duty at all times. In most cases, the rate is well above 50 percent. Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said the Gulf states have adequate National Guard units to handle the hurricane needs, with at least 60 percent of the Guard available in each state. In Louisiana, which took the brunt of Katrina, some 3,000 members of the 256th Combat Brigade are in Iraq, while 3,500 members of the Guard were deployed to help hurricane victims and another 3,000 were on standby. In neighboring Mississippi, the Guard had 853 troops on hurricane duty � a small slice of the more than 7,000 Guard troops in the state's ground and air components. Some 3,000 National Guard troops from Mississippi are in Iraq, another 300 in Afghanistan. The states in the hurricane's path have relatively large Guard forces. But some states with smaller Guard forces and a high percentage of soldiers in Iraq have expressed concern that they may be stretched too thin. For example, about 1,800 of Idaho's 4,400 Guard troops are serving overseas, a somewhat worrisome figure for officials facing a high risk of forest fires in the middle of a drought � fires that Guardsmen would help fight by providing logistical support to front-line firefighters. Mark Allen, spokesman at the national headquarters for the National Guard, said officials are confident the Guard can serve its dual roles. "We've always done both. It's just on a bigger scale today," he said. http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:...lient=firefox-a |
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Iraq hurt Katrina response, general says Pentagon says it can handle both the disaster and Iraq war Friday, September 9, 2005 Posted: 2225 GMT (0625 HKT) BAY ST. LOUIS, Mississippi (AP) -- The deployment of thousands of National Guard troops from Mississippi and Louisiana in Iraq when Hurricane Katrina struck hindered those states' initial storm response, military and civilian officials said Friday. Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said that "arguably" a day or so of response time was lost due to the absence of the Mississippi National Guard's 155th Infantry Brigade and Louisiana's 256th Infantry Brigade, each with thousands of troops in Iraq. "Had that brigade been at home and not in Iraq, their expertise and capabilities could have been brought to bear," said Blum. Blum said that to replace those units' command and control equipment, he dispatched personnel from Guard division headquarters from Kansas and Minnesota shortly after the storm struck. http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/09/0...na.natguard.ap/ |
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Guard Stretched Between Katrina, Wars By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer Sat Sep 10, 7:24 AM ET WASHINGTON - The National Guard is stretched so thin by simultaneous assignments in Iraq and the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast that leaders in statehouses and Congress say it is time to reconsider how the force is used. ADVERTISEMENT Republicans and Democrats alike worry about the service's ability to balance its federal and state missions of fighting wars and responding to domestic crises. "We need to look at what is going to be the long-term future of our Guard when states need to rely on these soldiers for emergencies and the nation continues to rely on them for overseas deployment," said Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat. About 41,000 Guard members are scattered across Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, along with 17,000 active-duty troops. About 30,000 Guard members are serving in Iraq, with smaller numbers in Afghanistan, Kosovo and elsewhere overseas. Since the storm devastated the deep South, Republicans and Democrats have praised the Guard for what may be the most massive U.S. military response to a domestic natural disaster. But lawmakers also have questioned whether poor coordination between the federal government and the states � and the overseas deployments � kept the Guard from getting where it was needed quickly after the hurricane. Sen. John Warner (news, bio, voting record), R-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, intends to review the Guard's hurricane relief performance this fall. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050910..._national_guard |
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| Originally posted by occrider Are you kidding me? You just tried to lay the entire blame on Blanco's feet because she did not request national guard troops from Bush specifically despite the fact that she requested troops on Saturday according to procedure. Now it's a moot point because she did get some troops? First of all, the federal governent failed on so many levels asides from the issue of national guard troops, however, to answer your question, well gee, how about there weren't enough troops to stabilize the region in order to conduct rescue operations one or two days after the catastrophe instead of 5 days later? On Monday, we had the pentagon saying that there were sufficient troops in the region: |
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| Surprise, surprise now we have subject matter experts, aka national guard generals coming forward to say that the support was damaged and weakened by Iraq: |
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| Now you have congress and republican senators questioning the unmet needs of the gulf coast states: |
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| So why don't you tell me how she had enough troops to get the job done? |
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| Originally posted by Q5echo when did the levee break? thats an important question you can answer later. but really, what could 12000 National Guardsmen (pre-Iraq)do that 20 some odd thousand (days following the levee) can't do? thanks for changing the subject BTW. i think Blanco knows more about the differences using her troops for aid and Federal active troops for security than you do. which isn't saying much really. |
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with all do respect to the General, once the levee broke the numbers he would have had without Iraq wouldn't have made a any difference. thats an opinion and as he said, "arguable". fact, as of 30AUG05 (what happened at around noon that day?) there were 3500 troops activated representing a third of his assets. doing what really? because at that time they were still under Blanco's authority. by wednesday there were 19500. another opinion is that for you to use the Iraq argument is weak and shortsided IOW purely political. the general would prolly agree. |
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by the 3rd there were 4000 active federal troops and 21000 National Guard. that same day Bush ordered another 7000 additional active duty. far be it from me or anyone to second guess some bloviating Congressman about utilization of 174,000 National Guardsmen. |
listen, for the last f**kin time. you said "where were the troops". she had troops. she didn't request them from Honore', yet she got what she asked for on the state level and it wasn't near enough. i'm not saying that was anybody's fault but she was complicit in her excuses and the media has blown it way out of perspective.
i gave an "arguable" opinion. so did the General. the context of the article you posted owns you, at least the political side of you. again you are, for an arguments sake, shortsided and wrong.
Honore', as of wednesday maybe thursday of that week was a liason or advisor to Blanco. the Federal troops and National Guard were operating on a hybrid organization of title 32 and title 10 of US Code authorized by the SECDEF. again, you were wrong.
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| Originally posted by Q5echo listen, for the last f**kin time. you said "where were the troops". she had troops. she didn't request them from Honore', yet she got what she asked for on the state level and it wasn't near enough. i'm not saying that was anybody's fault but she was complicit in her excuses and the media has blown it way out of perspective. |
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i gave an "arguable" opinion. so did the General. the context of the article you posted owns you, at least the political side of you. again you are, for an arguments sake, shortsided and wrong. |
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Honore', as of wednesday maybe thursday of that week was a liason or advisor to Blanco. the Federal troops and National Guard were operating on a hybrid organization of title 32 and title 10 of US Code authorized by the SECDEF. again, you were wrong. |
okay, remind me when she requested federalization of Guard troops again because this argument is bordering on semantics given what i've already posted on the first page regarding her videotaped confession and the security issues she faced that first week of the disaster.
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| Originally posted by occrider How so? Please elaborate. The general clearly stated that rescue efforts were delayed at least a day. Do you dispute that? |
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| Originally posted by Q5echo okay, remind me when she requested federalization of Guard troops again because this argument is bordering on semantics given what i've already posted on the first page regarding her videotaped confession and the security issues she faced that first week of the disaster. |
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yes, i would "argue" against that. so would he. he said it himself. from what you posted. is that so hard to understand? what assets did he have prior to the storm? say, on Saturday. when did he say that point would be "arguable"? after the flood? if it was, then he did not have the assets to control the city, Iraq, or no Iraq. he may have wanted assets to move to facilitate the force movement to the region, but as a force commander, it his his responsibility to have foresight to draw upon other assets that were more than willing to help given the situation. even then, he still has to work under the Governor, not FEMA, not Honore'. not to have foresight is "arguably" not his fault. however, the chaos that followed the flood was a ball dropped by his superior. |
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Iraq hurt Katrina response, general says Pentagon says it can handle both the disaster and Iraq war Friday, September 9, 2005 Posted: 2225 GMT (0625 HKT) BAY ST. LOUIS, Mississippi (AP) -- The deployment of thousands of National Guard troops from Mississippi and Louisiana in Iraq when Hurricane Katrina struck hindered those states' initial storm response, military and civilian officials said Friday. Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said that "arguably" a day or so of response time was lost due to the absence of the Mississippi National Guard's 155th Infantry Brigade and Louisiana's 256th Infantry Brigade, each with thousands of troops in Iraq. "Had that brigade been at home and not in Iraq, their expertise and capabilities could have been brought to bear," said Blum. Blum said that to replace those units' command and control equipment, he dispatched personnel from Guard division headquarters from Kansas and Minnesota shortly after the storm struck. Blum also said that in a worst-case scenario up to 50,000 additional Guardsmen per month will be needed in Louisiana or Mississippi over the next four months to continue providing relief, law enforcement and other post-hurricane services. Those 200,000 troops, if needed, would represent nearly two-thirds of the approximately 319,000 Guard troops available nationwide. Blum said his staff has almost completed a plan for 30-day rotations of Guard units so that no one will have to serve in the Gulf Coast for more than a month. There are about 30,000 Guardsmen in Iraq and a smaller number in Afghanistan, Kosovo and elsewhere overseas. Democratic Rep. Gene Taylor of Mississippi, whose waterfront home in Bay St. Louis was washed away in the storm, told reporters the absence of the deployed Mississippi Guard units made it harder for local officials to coordinate their initial response. "What you lost was a lot of local knowledge," Taylor said, as well as equipment that could have been used in recovery operations. "The best equipment went with them, for obvious reasons," especially communications equipment, he added. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said this week the Pentagon has the ability to cope with both Katrina and the Iraq war: "We can and will do both." Asked Tuesday about critics who said the commitment of large numbers of troops to the Iraq conflict hindered the military's response to Hurricane Katrina, Rumsfeld said, "Anyone who's saying that doesn't understand the situation." Blum said that overall the Iraq mission for Guard units across the nation is not limiting the military's ability to expand and continue the rescue and recovery operations in storm-battered states. "Iraq and other overseas commitments do not inhibit our ability to sustain this effort here at home," Blum said in an interview with three reporters who flew to Bay St. Louis with him Friday from Washington. Blum and Taylor toured the heavily damaged areas around Bay St. Louis. They also met with Guardsmen and other troops helping clean up and provide emergency assistance to those displaced by the wall of water that wiped out many homes and flooded a widespread area miles north of the coastline. Blum also flew to New Orleans, where he met with troops and commanders and was given an extensive aerial tour of flooded portions of the city. Afterward he flew to Baton Rouge and met with Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, commander of the military relief and recovery effort in the region. |
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| Originally posted by occrider yet you still somehow defend FEMA on the basis of what exactly? |
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