Discovering the Obvious
The General Accountability Office released a preliminary report yesterday after investigating the federal response to Hurrican Katrina. It nicely paralleled what Congressional hearings have uncovered so far and what every observer of the event already knew: no one was in charge. From the NY Times:
No one from the federal government was clearly in charge of the response to Hurricane Katrina, Congressional investigators said Wednesday, and in the absence of clear leadership the general federal approach was "to wait for affected states to request assistance."
In a preliminary report, the Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, criticized Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, for waiting until Tuesday, the day after the storm hit, to designate Hurricane Katrina an "incident of national significance," a status that more clearly put his department in charge.
"Government entities did not act decisively or quickly enough to determine the catastrophic nature of the incident," the report said. "In the absence of timely and decisive action and clear leadership responsibility and accountability, there were multiple chains of command." [Emphasis added]
And this is surprising,how? As the tragedy unfolded over the weekend before the storm actually hit, it was pretty clear that no one from the federal government had a clue as to what to do. The Emperor didn't bother leaving his ranch (as he had when the law to prolong Terri Schaivo's existence was ready for signing)except for a fund raiser in Arizona. The feds had plenty of notice on the potential dangers from this storm and they did nothing. How will they perform in a disaster that gives no warning, such as an earthquake or a terrorist strike?
While the appropriate departments and agencies could take this assessment and go back to the drawing board to develop a workable chain of command and the assignment of responsibilities for action, they didn't. The reaction from the "Gang Who Can't Shoot Straight" was predictable:
The findings were immediately criticized by the Department of Homeland Security. The department's press secretary, Russ Knocke, called them "premature and unprofessional."
Well, I do admit that the Department of Homeland Security can't be accused of ever being "premature" in its handling of its duties.
Shameful.
No one from the federal government was clearly in charge of the response to Hurricane Katrina, Congressional investigators said Wednesday, and in the absence of clear leadership the general federal approach was "to wait for affected states to request assistance."
In a preliminary report, the Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, criticized Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, for waiting until Tuesday, the day after the storm hit, to designate Hurricane Katrina an "incident of national significance," a status that more clearly put his department in charge.
"Government entities did not act decisively or quickly enough to determine the catastrophic nature of the incident," the report said. "In the absence of timely and decisive action and clear leadership responsibility and accountability, there were multiple chains of command." [Emphasis added]
And this is surprising,how? As the tragedy unfolded over the weekend before the storm actually hit, it was pretty clear that no one from the federal government had a clue as to what to do. The Emperor didn't bother leaving his ranch (as he had when the law to prolong Terri Schaivo's existence was ready for signing)except for a fund raiser in Arizona. The feds had plenty of notice on the potential dangers from this storm and they did nothing. How will they perform in a disaster that gives no warning, such as an earthquake or a terrorist strike?
While the appropriate departments and agencies could take this assessment and go back to the drawing board to develop a workable chain of command and the assignment of responsibilities for action, they didn't. The reaction from the "Gang Who Can't Shoot Straight" was predictable:
The findings were immediately criticized by the Department of Homeland Security. The department's press secretary, Russ Knocke, called them "premature and unprofessional."
Well, I do admit that the Department of Homeland Security can't be accused of ever being "premature" in its handling of its duties.
Shameful.
posted by Diane at 4:20 AM
2 Comments:
Sometimes I wonder if, like 9/11, there incompetence was purposeful. I mean, if you're happy with the possible results, why bother stepping in?
Every single one of them, from Bush down, should be hauled off to jail for criminal negligence.
I'd also let every survivor of a Gulf Coast victim take one good swing at each of them.
Agreed on the good swing, right in the gonads...
Now as to the response from Homeland Security, wow that was swift...Far swifter than the aid to Hurricane Katrina.
Also, I would like it to be noted, that GW Bush's father had the same problem with a hurricane hitting in Jamaica. The Ambassador to Jamaica was supposed to handle an evacuation of Americans from the island. He failed. His qualification to be the Ambassador to Jamiaca? Well he did contribute $100,000 for George H. Bush for his presidency.
What is even far more interesting, is this the response we will see from FEMA and Homeland Security when a terrorist attack may be in the US?
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