Hurricane Katrina: Who Is to Blame?

[thedrifter]

Hurricane Katrina: Who Is to Blame? <br />
Written by J. B. Williams <br />
Friday, September 02, 2005 <br />
<br />
The blame game has always been a favorite American pastime, especially in Washington, D.C. Collecting...

[yellowwing]

We are all to blame. The Corps of Engineers been wanting to work on the levees as a major national infrastructure project since 1965.

That's 40 years and 8 Presidents.

[Old Marine]

The Good old USA got caught with its pants down on this one.

[Phantom Blooper]

In the bitter sweet sea of life and death, you can either get on the boat and become a boat person or you can jump the ship or be thrown off and fend for yourself in the land of the sharks without a life vest or thrown a life preserver.

For the most part the people are boat people and are trying just to survive. The looter regardless of race should be shot on site if they are not taking food, medicine,or health and comfort items. I by NO means advocate stealing and looting of electronic equipment and shoes.

The oath that all military men and women took was,"to defend this nation from enemies foreign and domestic." And if you are protecting your family and property that is left I would have NO problem busting a cap in anyone who tried to do harm to life or limb.

If one is not completely indigent by living in a homeless shelter and standing in the soup line before this occurred,they have had years to prepare for a natural disaster. Each year and especially since 911 everyone was told to make a preparation kit . (During the duct tape plastic days.)The people that are on welfare had the means to get food. And they may not have money available now,but they have had money and this has been an ongoing thing. In addition to 911 the people in the Southern and coastal states should always be prepared as much as possible for this type of disaster. They may not of had the means to evacuate because of the monetary situation or lack of vehicle,and had to go to a shelter. But they could have thrown can goods,peanut-butter,bread and non perishables,meds and basic H&C items into a sack or backpack along with a few blankets,and pillows and if not physically disabled walked to the inner city shelter.How many times on liberty did you want a brew or to party and didn't have a vehicle and had to walk a few miles or blocks into town? These people aren't starving,they may have dehydration problems but it takes longer than this week for starvation to take its toll.If they don't have the basics after the storm,they didn't have the basics before the storm so whose fault is that? Whom is the blame? The pictures that I have seen except for the infants,elderly and infirm,these people look pretty healthy and stout to me.If you keep a dog pent up in a cage a dog typically will only $hit in one place not in its bed.

I have been thru many hurricanes,category 1-4 and tornadoes here in North Carolina and yes I have had damage to property and have been without power,trees down,flooding,phones out ,without air condition,ice and sewage problems. You cannot always prepare fully for the fury of Mother Natures wrath but you can prepare as best as possible. These people for the most part did not.

To blame the government for not doing any thing is ludicrous. Yes some of government agencies are slack, in getting there,but even though I don't like FEMA,they are there to help rebuild after the devastation. You cannot rebuild until you cleanup the debris. The help was on the way,cutting paths with chainsaws and moving debris out of the way. And staged to move out and activated and called to come back and help. You cannot make airdrops if you are flying in a hot zone. As we know logistically it takes time to coordinate this massive move,and with the human factor there is going to be errors so who is the blame? However, the responsibility ultimately remains with the individual affected. I am not being callous by no means. I have compassion for these people,and it may be my military background coming out but I have to adhere to the acronym of the P's. Whose fault is that? The fingers of blame will be pointed for years and wrote in the scrolls of history with no conclusive answers,like everything that is controversial in this nation and world.

My tanks are gassed and my position is fortified. I am prepared for the incoming and flak.

Semper-Fi! "Never Forget" Chuck Hall


:marine:

[Joseph P Carey]

This may seem crass on my part, but I have never seen so many people not willing to help themselves or others as I have seen in New Orleans!

The Mayor of NO and the Congressmen of the area are waving their hands in the air saying it is the government's fault, but they are the government.

The people are waving their hands in the air saying it is the government’s fault, but they elected the government.

The Governor is crying about not having any help, but she did not make a request for the US Government to get involved earlier as she was supposed to under the precedence of Posse Comitatus Act of 1878:

The Posse Comitatus Act is a federal law of the United States (18 U.S.C. § 1385) passed in 1878, after the end of Reconstruction, and was intended to prohibit Federal troops from supervising elections in former Confederate states. It generally prohibits Federal military personnel and units of the United States National Guard under Federal authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, except where expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress. The original act only referred to the Army, but the Air Force was added in 1956 and the Navy and Marine Corps have been included by a regulation of the Department of Defense. This law is mentioned whenever it appears that the Department of Defense is interfering in domestic disturbances.

The people of New Orleans sat on their collective butts not willing to do anything to help themselves. I am sure there are carpenters there that can build shelters from the wreckage of buildings. There are labors there that can remove rubbish from the area. There are people of able body that can move the dead to an area away from the children and the general populous. There are nurses and nurse’s aids that can attend to the hurt. There are all sorts of men that can arm themselves and protect the people, many of these men have military training, and they can form scavenging crews that could go to the stores and get food, and bottled water, and fight the looters and the rapist and the thugs.

But, to sit there and to wait to die is not and to complain about the government, and what the government is not doing for them is not the way to survive.

I am sorry this terrible thing has fallen on their community, but I have no pity for the people that could have changed their own circumstances, and they did not. More so, I have no pity for the Mayor of NO, who could have had his police deputize members of the community and could have protected the gun stores, and the hospitals, and the pharmacies, and the food stores for the benefit of the people that could not help themselves, this should have been a priority for the community services of the city. It was not!

Blame the US Government all you want, but the fault lies in the residents and the City Officials first and foremost.

[GySgtRet]

My two cents on this Matter:

1. The damage and carnage needs to be as acurate as possible.
2. Putting the blame? HMM...?? I agree with Phantom Blooper adults need to take the resposibility for their familis.
3. There is plenty of water all around them. They can set buildings on fire but thet can't boile water for 15 minuets for drinking water?
4. I am going to do what I can for people that I know have been devistated. A Gunny in Slidel, LA and her daughter have to evacted to Tenn. While speaking with another retired Marine about this situation I suggested that we sponsor them. She said to ask the boss I got a thumbs up. He is a retired Marine also, but that has no bearing on this as far as I know.
5. In 1970 I found out first hand what it is like to loose everything. Our home burnt to the ground and it was -26. You talk about rough.
6. I do feel bad for these people, but generation after generation has been on wellfare they do not have the edcuation to take care of themselves they depend upon you and me.
7. The government is responsible for the welfare state.
8. I can't see anybody to blame but the so called adults that have too many children to take care of before this all happened.
9. I am not going to appolizise, this is my opinion and I have the right to express it and to point out the facts.

Semper Fidelis

[yellowwing]

Congress Likely to Probe Guard Response (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050903/ap_on_re_us/katrina_national_guard)

...New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state's National Guard last Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route didn't come from Washington until late Thursday....

That is a big problem for me. It's not legal EPA wrangling or ACLU scalding coffee. It's simple permission for trained forces to go do their job.

They had a practice drill last year on a hurricane disaster. What do you bet they ran a perfect scenario where everything always worked out alright?

Of course Mayor Nagin is ****ed. For too many days it was just his police force against the beast. And a third of them quit under the intense pressure.

That one New Orleans policeman on news was really spitting furious swearing at the "cowards that dare think they can wear this badge!" Semper Fi whoever he was.

When Bush did speak from the News Orleans airport tarmac, the Governor spoke next, but Mayor Nagin did not speak. I wonder if he was invited NOT to speak or if he choose not to speak?

Here's a disaster policy idea. For the impoverished folks that do want to get out but don't have the money, send the busses in before they are trapped and put then in the Astro dome.

2 adults and three kids going by Greyhound to a Houston Motel 6 for 1 week runs just over $525. Meals not included.

I was in New Orleans for 8 months and got to know many of the hospitality workers. I would guess that only half of them had stashed away $500. And they were working.

[Phantom Blooper]

These news reports from the Galveston Hurricane of 1900: Different century but something to consider....


Looters found despoiling the dead were stood against the nearest wall or pile of debris and shot without hindrance of a trial. The grisly work of collecting the dead continued by torchlight. The workers were issued generous rations of bourbon and strong cigars. They breathed through handkerchiefs soaked in bourbon and smoked cigars to mask the smell.

In the sweltering heat that followed the storm, decomposition was rapid. The bodies soon lost the rigidity of rigor mortis and had to be shoveled into carts. At times the fixed bayonets of the militia were all that kept many of the men at their work. Superintendents of the work gangs were finally given permission to torch the wreckage wherever found rather than try to extricate pieces of flesh from the ruins and cart them away.

“It was like living in a battlefield. The fuel-oil smoke hung over the city, day and night, and the heavy air was never free of the smell of carbolic acid, of lime, of putrefaction.”

— Death from the Sea: The Galveston Hurricane of 1900, Herbert Molloy Mason, Jr.

Looters found despoiling the dead were summarily executed by the militia - stood against the nearest wall or pile of debris and shot without the hindrance of a trial. The same brutal justice was delivered to amateur photographers. “Word received from Galveston today indicates that Kodak fiends are being shot down like thieves. Two, it is stated, were killed yesterday while taking pictures of nude female bodies.”

— Dallas News, September 14, 1900

[greensideout]

GySgtRet gets it right with #6 and 7. Who is to blame? Let me take it one step futher. The blame rests upon the establishment of LBJ's "Great Society". The product of that society is total dependence upon the government for everything. I'm amazed that each generation becomes more dependent then the one before it---or was that the plan? Whatever the plan, we see the result in the total sit and wait to be cared for mentality. Sad.

[ringoffire]

First of all I just want to say that I agree with you guys on this one. Phantom and J Carey-well said. I feel bad for the devastation down in the gulf. After seeing how many people were still in NO, I wondered why they didn't have the transit system pick these people up, before Katrina hit. What I don't get is why there was such a lack of preparation. New Orleans is 10-12 feet BELOW sea level, a strong tropical storm, will flood it. This was a catagory 5 hurricane. Anyone w/access to a tv or radio new it was coming. It crossed over FL, hit the gulf, got stronger in the warmer water, and didn't stop. I have lived up and down the east coast. I know when hurricane season starts and stops. I start my own preparation before any sign of a big storm. If and when a hurricane hits, all I need to do is gas up the truck and pick up any last minute things. Sorry, I get a little heated when I see such a lack of commen sense, by so many people.
With that said I will end up donating whatever I can.

[rsta]

I hope that in the days or months ahead we as a nation take a real hard look as to what happened and realize what we are, or have, become. We are indeed a nation of have's and have not's; those that have the common sense and dignity to do the right thing, and those that simply want to take advantage of any given situation and get what they can for themselves. I'm not saying that all the folks that stayed behind in NO are in the second category, but it appeared that way too many were. Did you notice that it didn't take very long at all for the people to turn "savage". I can't help but believe many stayed behind with the intent on stealing whatever they could get there hands on.

If you live in a hurricane area, you best have a plan for yourself and family. If your "plan" is to sit and do nothing and wait for government assistance, well then, that's probably your "plan" for getting through life. Too many now have this plan, and we as a nation have allowed it to go on that way. This needs to change!

I did not see or hear of not even one report of the people doing anything for themselves or others. Like already posted before, there was a lot that they could have done to help the situation.

Did the gov't react slowly, yes it did. Do changes need to be made in how disasters are handled, obviously. But you know, to me what is so telling on this situation is not the reaction of the government, but the actions of the residents of New Orleans. What a natonal disgrace and embarressment!

[hrscowboy]

Give me a break here.. These people were told 2 days before this storm hit them to vacate they knew that this was going to happen they have been told before and they refused to listen to the experts, Now they want to put the blame on someone except themselves. and dont come up with the any excuses that these people where poor and didnt have cars and so forth. buttom line is do what your told and you may live to see another day.. enuff said..

[Old Marine]

Fully agree with GySgtRet on #6.

I wonder if the Welfare checks are getting through.

[GunnyL]

The Mayor of a City 18ft below sea level had no evacuation plan and no emergency plan in effect for the aftermath of a disaster of this magnitude or any other. Knowing that the city lies in the Hurricane zone for the Gulf Coast.
The Governor of the State of Louisiana which includes the City of New Orleans had no plan in effect to evacuate the city and surrounding areas, didn't mobilize the National Guard for her State in advance of the storm and deploy them in the areas that would be affected. Didn't call them up and deploy them until well after the storm.
Then they are pointing the finger at President Bush to cover up their own failures and lack of planning. Instead of accepting responsibility for their lack of actions, they immediately blame the Bush Administration. Typical Democrats, it's anybody elses fault but mine that I failed to do my job!!!!!
The Johnson Administration did a brilliant job of creating Generations upon Generations who spend their lives with their hands out instead of doing for themselves and it was more apparent than ever if you watch the news coverage in New Orleans and see all of the single mothers with 6 kids hanging off of them. It's sad to see what this country has become. The lawlessness that occurred wasn't even a surprise at this point.
The Federal Government was slow to respond and you can blame Homeland Security for that one. FEMA was a very well organized quick to respond agency before they got lumped into that Monstrous Beaurocracy called HS. FEMA learned a lot after Hurricane Andrew and refined their procedures for responding to disasters. Homeland Security simply added a few more layers of worthless Beaurocrats to the equation and now it takes a few more days to get approval for what used to take one day. The Federal Governments job during Natural Disasters is to come in afterwards and help rebuild and repair the damage.
All of us who have participated in Relief Operations know that it takes days of planning and logistics to get the ball rolling for a Military response in the event something like this occurs. We also shouldn't have to go in armed in our own cities worrying about getting shot at by fellow Americans when we are trying to provide Rescue and Relief Operations.
I was on Operation Sea Angel in 1991 and we didn't even take our rifles in country when we were providing relief operations in Bangladesh. We didn't have to worry about getting shot at, they were very grateful for our presence. Too bad we don't get the same reception in New Orleans, Louisiana!

GunnyL

[GySgtRet]

Our collective wisdom here on this site would be excellent for future planning of the City of New Orleans. Minus the welfare of course. I agree that these people had fare enough warning, and knowing that they live in a storm ladened state just makes my skin crawl that they would put their loved ones through such a crisis. The mayor and the goverernor really need to take a lokk at why they were elected to their positions and do something about it or as all Marines know the old saying, "Lead Follow or get the hell out of the way."

Semper Fidelis

[Phantom Blooper]

and the goverernor really need to take a lokk at why they were elected to their positions and do something about it or as all Marines know the old saying, "Lead Follow or get the hell out of the way."

The leadership sucks! As a governor male or female you lead the people of the state. You do not get up there and breakdown when your people are looking for you to guide them. I agree with tears and remorse but that should come after the fact and ALL of your people that entrusted into your care are of. The mayor ran to Baton Rouge to run his mouth....the captain stays until the last man,woman and child is off the ship!

Semper-Fi! "Never Forget" Chuck Hall

[1shot1kill]

I agree with the Phanthom --
How do you evcauate 500,000 people from New Orleans? A mandatory evacuation was annouced on Sunday AM a little more than 20 hrs before land fall. What the hell was Mayor Nagin thinking ?
Why are there 232 school buses flooded in NO-- I forgot to use them . They could have been used to get the Elderly/Ill -kids and ladies out in that order.

How dare he Disrespect President Bush--guess that was why he did not speak on Friday.

Everyone compares this to 911 on a damage scale and its not even close -the damage goes for New Orleans to Mobile, AL .

Im sure when all the dead are counted it will be in the 1000's

As for my family we donated a 1/2 pick up of clothes -shoes-tv--kids movies..

IEF-IOF
SF:marine: