Bush held New Orleans hostage
Two reports on National Public Radio chronicle the government response to Hurricane Katrina (via DKos Diary). The second report in particular highlights the disconnect between the reality on the ground and the proclamations of Bush administration officials, like Chertoff and Brown. The most shocking aspect of that disconnect is that Bush required Louisiana officials to cede control over the recovery effort as a condition for ordering other state’s National Guard units to assist them. This, while New Orleans is flooded and almost half of the Louisiana National Guard personnel is stationed in Iraq, and with them just about all their heavy equipment, boats, generators, trucks, etc.
- Katrina Timeline: Unexecuted Plans: report about the efforts of local government officials in Louisiana to prepare for the effects of a catastrophic Hurricane
- Katrina Timeline: Misdirected Aid: report about the problems obtaining and coordinating aid in the aftermath of the hurricane
So now that the recovery effort is in the “capable” hands of the Bush administration, instead of the local and state officials, guess who gets to dole out billions of dollars worth in reconstruction contracts? Yeah – the same people who doled out billions of dollars worth in reconstruction contracts in Iraq. Can’t wait to see who is getting those contracts…