A Deadly Vacuum, NY Times, 2/16/2006 - Katrina Related

[Coastie for Truth]

In the Bush administration, there is no such thing as failure at the top. When something goes wrong because of bad leadership, punishment is meted out to the foot soldiers and middle management, while the people in charge remain unscathed. Now we'll see whether the rule holds true in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Yesterday an 11-member, all-Republican Congressional panel released a scathing report on the leadership failures before, during and after Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. This report, 520 pages in all, needs to be examined carefully for as many specific disaster-response lessons as possible. For example, more than four years after Sept. 11, many of the same communications issues that hampered operations at the World Trade Center — impeding the emergency responders' ability to talk to one another — still plagued Katrina rescue and relief missions.

But right now one thing is clear. While there is no shortage of incompetent public officials involved in this tragedy, one stands out above the rest. That person is Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

According to the panel's report, Mr. Chertoff has "primary responsibility for managing the national response to a catastrophic disaster," yet he handled his decision-making responsibilities "late, ineffectively, or not at all." A FEMA official named Marty Bahamonde sent word back to Washington on the same day Katrina struck, saying the 17th Street Canal levee in New Orleans had been breached. This was not based on a rumor; he had seen it with his own eyes from a Coast Guard helicopter. FEMA public affairs officials sent Mr. Chertoff's chief of staff an e-mail note that night. The former FEMA director, Michael Brown, says he notified the White House at the same time. Yet the next day, President Bush said New Orleans had "dodged the bullet," while Mr. Chertoff flew to Atlanta for a briefing on avian flu.

I'm a Coast Guard veteran (stationed in New orleans, my wife taught in New Orleans' "Lower Ninth Ward") and I am also a Red Cross volunteer still working with Katrina victims - the full editorial is worth a read.

[babylonsister]

1. We need to find another source to view for free; thanks for the

heads-up.