Not sure of the origins of this letter, but it (finally) puts a lot of the whole disaster into perspective. Greg
Comments by Don of Niagara Falls: I'm only going to share some comments and opinions about Katrina and the blame game. First to those who questioned and asked: Here is a partial list of the 40+ nations that have offered financial assistance, specialist help, material assistance, transportation assistance, and other assistance. Offers have been received from Russia, Japan, Canada, France, Honduras, Germany, Venezuela, Jamaica, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, China, South Korea, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, NATO and the Organization of American States. Venezuela, a target of frequent criticism by the Bush administration (and death threats), offered humanitarian aid and fuel. Venezuela's Citgo Petroleum Corp. pledged a $1 million donation for hurricane aid. Australia has sent personnel and donated $10 million ($US 13.8 million) for Katrina relief. "Other assistance" includes 26 nations who have pledged to either increase oil production, or release oil from their national reserves, in order to try to stabilize the world price of crude oil. Several countries are taking private donations for Katrina relief. The Blame Game. Where do we start? It seems that the Media, the politicians, and most individuals blame Bush. I believe that there is enough blame to go around. Starting with those fools back in the early 1700s who decided to build a levee and start a city below sea level. We can start with the timeline: On Friday (before Katrina struck), Pres Bush called the Govs of LA and MS and state of emergency was declared. He recommended a 'mandatory evacuation'. Gov of LA issued a voluntary evacuation notice Saturday afternoon at 2:30 PM CDT. Gov of LA issued a mandatory evacuation order Sunday at 9:30 AM CDT. The storm hit the Louisiana coast on Monday morning at 6:00 AM CDT. And, it was almost 24 hours later that it was recognized that the levees had been broken. First question, Why did the LA Gov wait almost 48 hours to order a mandatory evacuation? For that matter, why didn't the Mayor order a mandatory evacuation? (Maybe they wanted to keep the French Quarter open a little longer?) Next question: do any of you remember the Media bobble heads talking on Monday evening news, that N.O. had apparently dodged the bullet. The Mayor held a press conference and was thankful. But, by morning (Tuesday), with water around their ankles, someone realized that there was a real big problem. Someone mentioned why they didn't use the school busses, the attached pictures tell the story. By the time someone figured out the problem, the bus parking lot had several feet of water covering it and water half way up the sides of the busses. Besides I'm sure that most of the drivers were not, at that moment, interested in driving a bus. And, by this time, most of the streets were filling with water and blocking all roads in and out of town. So it seems that at least 72 hours were wasted. By the way, official estimates prior to the 'hit' were that it would take 72 hours to evacuate N.O. I wonder if any investigation will try to figure out why local officials waited so long to react. Next a few words about the National Guards (NGs). First the Media has time and again cited the fact that many NGs are in Iraq. I saw one bobble head asking a police chief in MS what he thought about the fact the 7,000 MS NGs were in Iraq. He got the obvious answer. But, what he did not say/note was the fact that there are an additional 17,000 MS NGs, at home, not deployed, available for Katrina relief. In fact, within 8 hours driving there are 121,000 NGs who are not deployed to Iraq. And, throughout the US, approximately 300,000 NGs not deployed to Iraq. "Stretched Thin?" Everyone, I'm sure, has heard the complaint that Bush waited too long before sending in the NGs. If I may, let me explain a couple of the finer points of law. First, the President CANNOT activate NGs for civil crises until he receives a formal request by the Gov concerned. He did not receive such requests until after the levees broke. Now place yourself in the position of trying to get these NGs to where they are needed. NY sent 1,000 men and equipment. They left on Wed. and are not expected to arrive until today. Second, there are two other people who have the authority to activate the NGs; the Gov can activate those NGs in their own state and the local sheriff can activate those NGs within his/her own county. Which begs the question, "Why did they wait for Bush to activate the NGs?" Answer: MONEY. If the Gov or Sheriff activates the NGs, they (the State) assume the costs: salaries, food, housing, fuel, transportation, etc. If the President activates the NGs, then the federal government picks up the costs (that's you and me - the tax payers, people!). So LA and MS saved a bunch of money by waiting for the President to activate the Guard. If they, Gov and Sheriff, had activated the NGs, they would have been on the streets in a matter of hours, not days. Also what they did not understand is that if they had activated the NGs as soon as the President started activations, their troops would have been covered by the Federal order. And, they would have still saved money, AND the troops would have been there much sooner. I see that there will be an investigation into why it took so long for the Guard to show up; I hope someone asks the Govs of LA and MS. There is another aspect of the time taken to get support into the area. If you have access, then take a look at a map of N.O. and the surrounding area. Please note I-10, as it heads NE from N.O. Think about it, folks, I-10 no longer exists; it has been destroyed, gone, and it will be gone for 3-5 years. The Causeway Bridge to the N, has been damaged and inspection is not complete to determine if it is safe to use or not. Land wise, that leaves only one way in and out of N.O. - I-10 NW. Now bring up a mental picture of you standing on an overpass near N.O. If you look away from the city, what do you see? Both of the in-bound lanes are packed with trucks of all shapes and sizes, crawling along in a one hundred mile traffic jam. Most civilian trucks are not being allowed into the city, i.e., 10 Semis left Buffalo yesterday filled with everything donated by people wanting to help. If they drove without resting, the trip was estimated to take 19 hours. But, I'm sure that they ran into a little traffic, and may have found trouble getting fuel. Anyway, they cannot go into N.O., instead they must stop at Baton Rouge, and off load the items. They will be sorted and then shipped on to N.O. As you are standing on that overpass, you see the out bound lanes are packed with empty trucks headed for Baton Rouge and busses headed to some safe haven. I've rambled on a bit, but, I hope I've given you a different view. There is blame at all levels. The important thing right now is the feeding, clothing, and caring for those who have lost everything. By the way, I wonder how many tree huggers are getting a petition together to declare N.O. a National Wetland Sanctuary, and to not allow any people to return. Please, God, put your arms around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth. Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _______________________________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
