This disaster has been in the waiting for years. It is a fact that the Army Corp of Engineers was working on improving the levee system to meet the catostophic flooding event that occurred. I am not an engineer, but it seems that it could have been accomplished faster. But, funds were diverted from that project to fund a certain war. That last statement is NOT meant to start a debate on that war, so don't even go there please.
As for moblilizing the military and sending them to New Orleans right away, it did have the potential to be a very dangerous situation. I am sure politicians at the White House decided that they didn't want images of soldiers shooting poor people on TV. They did their cost benefit analysis and decided the risks from those images and deaths outweighed the potential loss of life due to the military not responding immediately. And other agencies probably told the president that they were up to the task for the time being.
That they decided not to send the military to New Orleans because it was dangerous?.........well...........enough said. I kind of thought it was the job of the military did do the dangerous things. That being said, I wouldn't want the military to be used as police, but only for providing aid and security around the evacuation centers. Seriously, as for looters, let em loot. I would never want my son or daughter to have to shoot someone because that poor, ignorant bastard was stealing a tv. I know that opinion won't sit well with those that want to kill all the looters, but it's just my opinion. Now, when looters start to interfere with rescue operations, that would be a damn tragic scene.
But, I still don't know why there wasn't a quicker response with food and water. In this day and age there are these funny things with wings called "planes", and other things with spinny tops called "helicopters." And I'll be darned if some of those helicopters don't fit inside some of the big planes. And just one of those green helicopters, like all the ones you saw lined up to give the governor a tour of the disaster area, can can quite a few bottles of water I imagine. Seems like a little creative thinking could have at least solved the need for water in New Orleans. Maybe even the food problem too.
What was missing was a leader with the balls and the first hand knowledge of the situation to use his resources to quickly and effectively. Interesting development, considering the battles that the states are having with the Pentagon over control of the Air National Guard, and other National Guard units, triggered by the base realignment commitee. Remeber that the governors I would never blame the soldier, sailor, or airman that would actually carry out the mission, so you guys please don't get offended. What we will never know about this disaster is how the upper echelons interacted in the first hours of the disaster; how the military, JCS, the white house, and FEMA all discussed the challenges; How much of it was a "turf war" between agencies.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the military probably quickly displayed a "can-do" attitude with fairly aggressive humantitarian response, but their offers were put on hold because other agencies felt they could deal with the crisis until the US Navy's resources could reach the region. I have no evidence to back up this hypothesis, just some knowledge of how Federal agencies interact and come to decisions.
I won't bash the president yet. And trust me, I want to bash away! On the surface, it looks like his decisions were slow and weak. But once again, we don't know the quality of information he was receiving, and as we all know, sometimes he doesn't get the most accurate info. Then again, it is also his job to insure that he has the best information available. But, don't forget, he was on vacation......
In the long run, however, I sure the military and National Guard will perform a large part of the cleanup efforts and support for refugees. (seems strange to say refugee when talking about Americans in America doesn't it? Maybe I should say evacuee instead...)
Have a great day!
Tom