What was Mr. Bush thinking?

[albed]

Awww. What a shame for your terrorist allies knife.

[Drakonix]

It would be stupid and unnecessarily expensive to relocate soldiers on duty in Afghanistan and Iraq to help with Katrina relief efforts (given current needs and availability of aid).

Why? Because there are still plenty troops available still in the Country. Approximately 38,200 Army, Navy, and National Guard personnel have already been sent into the effected areas. Why bring soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq when they can get them from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Wisconsin (to name a few)? About one third of the troops are going to be allocated to help in law enforcement efforts such as help enforce curfew and quell the looting.

http://www.ngb.army.mil/

Further, military personnel are not the only folks aiding in the relief effort. Further personnel will come from other jurisdictions under "mutual aid", State and Federal disaster relief organizations, organizations like the Red Cross, and a heavy dose of disaster relief volunteers.

As I mentioned in a previous post, it takes time for the government to get things going in a disaster relief effort. The end result is that the effected areas will get whatever help they need from the Government and from private sector companies and individuals.

The Federal and State governments are actually doing pretty good so far. They were able to move in some personnel and equipment to outlying areas before the hurricane hit. Remember, this is the aftermath of a historically significant hurricane. It will take 1 - 2 years to undo the damage to the city structures. You can't reasonably expect overnight miracles.

Reading the text with an open mind also helps, bold emphasis added:

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - There will be no large-scale shifting of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan to help with disaster relief in Louisiana and Mississippi, a U.S. Central Command spokesman said Thursday.

This means there could be some shifting of troops if this becomes necessary.

[theknife]

Originally Posted by Drakonix

It would be stupid and unnecessarily expensive to relocate soldiers on duty in Afghanistan and Iraq to help with Katrina relief efforts (given current needs and availability of aid).

Why? Because there are still plenty troops available still in the Country. Approximately 38,200 Army, Navy, and National Guard personnel have already been sent into the effected areas. Why bring soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq when they can get them from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Wisconsin (to name a few)? About one third of the troops are going to be allocated to help in law enforcement efforts such as help enforce curfew and quell the looting.

http://www.ngb.army.mil/

Further, military personnel are not the only folks aiding in the relief effort. Further personnel will come from other jurisdictions under "mutual aid", State and Federal disaster relief organizations, organizations like the Red Cross, and a heavy dose of disaster relief volunteers.

As I mentioned in a previous post, it takes time for the government to get things going in a disaster relief effort. The end result is that the effected areas will get whatever help they need from the Government and from private sector companies and individuals.

The Federal and State governments are actually doing pretty good so far. They were able to move in some personnel and equipment to outlying areas before the hurricane hit. Remember, this is the aftermath of a historically significant hurricane. It will take 1 - 2 years to undo the damage to the city structures. You can't reasonably expect overnight miracles.

Reading the text with an open mind also helps, bold emphasis added:



This means there could be some shifting of troops if this becomes necessary.

oh yeah, the situation looks well in hand. those darn New Orleans Emergency Management officials just don't seem to be able keep an open mind:

New Orleans in Anarchy With Fights, Rapes
By ALLEN G. BREED, Associated Press Writer

Thursday, September 1, 2005
(09-01) 17:11 PDT NEW ORLEANS, (AP) --

New Orleans descended into anarchy Thursday, as corpses lay abandoned in street medians, fights and fires broke out and storm survivors battled for seats on the buses that would carry them away from the chaos. The tired and hungry seethed, saying they had been forsaken.

"I'm not sure I'm going to get out of here alive," said Canadian tourist Larry Mitzel, who handed a reporter his business card in case he goes missing. "I'm scared of riots. I'm scared of the locals. We might get caught in the crossfire."

Four days after Hurricane Katrina roared in with a devastating blow that inflicted potentially thousands of deaths, the frustration, fear and anger mounted, despite the promise of 1,400 National Guardsmen a day to stop the looting, plans for a $10 billion recovery bill in Congress and a government relief effort President Bush called the biggest in U.S. history.

New Orleans' top emergency management official called that effort a "national disgrace" and questioned when reinforcements would actually reach the increasingly lawless city.

[theknife]

Katrina Donations Rise as Bush Taps Father, Clinton for Effort

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Contributions for victims of Hurricane Katrina climbed to at least $82 million as President George W. Bush asked his father and former President Bill Clinton to lead a fund-raising effort.

Corporate giving made up a significant amount of the total, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, as companies from Abbott Laboratories to Johnson Controls Inc. pledge money and supplies. Jerry Lewis's annual Labor Day telethon will include celebrity appeals for Katrina victims and the Muscular Dystrophy Association plans to give $1 million to help.

``As people focus more on what needs to be done, clearly it's going to be one of the most significant philanthropic efforts that America has put together,'' said Evan Goldstein, a spokesman for the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...top_world_news

i doubt if i'm the first person to bring this up and i'm sure i won't be the last:

do we keep pumping money into Iraq at the rate of almost a billion dollars per week, while we attempt to fund relief efforts in Louisiana and Mississippi with charitable donations? so the people of Bagdhad can bank on the US taxpayer, but the people of Biloxi and New Orleans have to count on charity?

wtf is wrong with this picture?

[albed]

Originally Posted by theknife

do we keep pumping money into Iraq at the rate of almost a billion dollars per week, while we attempt to fund relief efforts in Louisiana and Mississippi with charitable donations? so the people of Bagdhad can bank on the US taxpayer, but the people of Biloxi and New Orleans have to count on charity?

wtf is wrong with this picture?

Hahahaha...what's wrong from a 'liberal' point of view is that people are free to give what they want to whom they want and the government isn't forceably taking people's money and doing what it wants with it reguardless of their desires.

Freedom is just plain wrong to your kind, isn't it knife?

[Drakonix]

oh yeah, the situation looks well in hand. those darn New Orleans Emergency Management officials just don't seem to be able keep an open mind:

Yes, given the severe nature of the storm the emergency response efforts are good. Normally, it takes at least 72 hours for emergency services to start kicking in after a major disaster. Plan ahead thinking significantly lessened that in part because some emergency services were waiting in nearby areas until the storm passed. We are just slightly beyond the 72 hour point on the hurricane landfall, and emergency services already have a good start.

I DID NOT say "things are well in hand". Of course they are not - this is only the third day following hurricane Katrina making landfall in Louisiana. Recovery from a natural disaster of this magnitude is not going to happen in a few days, or even a few weeks.

I DID say you can't expect "overnight miracles" which means there is no expedient solution. The solution takes efforts that can not be accomplished in a short period of time.

The "open mind" issue I mentioned is not aimed toward emergency services, and is clearly delineated.

It is a certainty that the efforts of the emergency services personnel (including the President and Federal Government) are more likely to result in actual disaster relief than political innuendo and bitching.

[goldie]

Sorry Albed but I like to think of something intelligent to say rather than spew anal sewage out of my mouth like you do.

I reiterate what I posted earilier in that i am not a political debater in the least. Right and wrong decisions have nothing to do with a particular political party and as one hurricane survivor said to press - it's not black thing or a white thing - it's a people thing.

I'm a humanitarian and would probably be called a liberal because of it, so be it.

Louisiana, Mississippi and parts of Alabama don't care about political parties or political agendas they simply want help now. Louisiana tried to get help in the past through the levee projects and the Corp of Engineers but the decision was made to cut the budget despite the Corps own protests (and proof of the dangers a major hurricanes effects) and that of its' citizens - that's the bottom line.

I guess it's easier to blame the drug addicted, poor, welfare poor, mentally ill or whatever "have-nots" you can throw in there for being in Louisiana, Miss., or Alabama.

As for Bush-blaming (for those who would call it such), I don't see one single person blaming a natural disaster on poor Mr. Bush. What I do see and hear (and it's there for all to see in the media) is blaming Mr. Bush and his administration for the not-so-wise decisions that they make and continue to make.

For ANY part of the U.S. to be compared to a 3rd world country by foreign countries is a disgrace and abomination. For anyone to still blame these people for not getting out when they had a chance is cruel and thoughtless.

It amazes me that the pro-Bush folks are in denial about this administration and no matter how many poor decisions that Mr. Bush and his cronies make. it will forever be lost on those that fail to see.

The bottom line is this administration didn't (and still doesn't) care what humanitarian services it cuts in order to fund the money trap so commonly called The War On Terror or for the support of big business.



Boston Globe (need subscription i think) -
National Guard
By Bryan Bender

The equipment the Guard needs to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is in shorter supply because the gear is in use in combat zones, is battle-damaged, or has been loaned to cover gaps in other units, the officials said. The National Guard Bureau estimates that its nationwide equipment availability rate is 35 percent, about half the normal level, according to Pentagon statistics.

''In the four years since 9/11 that we have been at war, equipment has been beaten up, blown up, or simply left behind," said John Goheen of the National Guard Association of the United States. ''States have had to borrow equipment and make do with a lot less equipment. We are short literally thousands of Humvees."

Meanwhile, in Louisiana and Mississippi, the states hit hardest by the hurricane, up to 40 percent of their National Guard troops are on active duty in Iraq. As a result, Guard commanders responding to the storm's havoc have been forced to look further afield for military police and other National Guard units and equipment from states as far away as Maryland, stealing precious time from the relief efforts.

But we all know that already don't we.......



As some of the worlds press sees it - some of which touches on U.S.'s part in the global warming problem:

BBC


I guess it's far too much to ask for if this president were to admit perhaps he made an error by cutting hurricane preparedness for the Gulf Coast. Probably an even farther stretch for him and his adminstration to offer an apology.

but i'll apologize for not being a real debater.

[albed]

Originally Posted by theknife

oh yeah, the situation looks well in hand. those darn New Orleans Emergency Management officials just don't seem to be able keep an open mind:

Wow, a Canadian sissy! What's the world coming to?

At least seven bodies were scattered outside the convention center,

OMG 7! THE HORROR!

I hear on the news about people viciously cursing the government for not immediately granting their wishes; fucking parasites have to support themselves for the first time in their lives and all they can do is steal from others and of course it's the government's fault.

But they're no different from the city politicians who also blame the federal government for not being ready to care for them when they get into trouble.

Does anyone actually take responsibility for their own lives in this country any more? Let the worthless, stupid fucks die off and the country will be better for it.

And ffs make it clear to the morons that if they rebuild and continue to live in that ridiculously unsuitable area they'll be left to die when the next disaster occurs.