Official thread for documenting govt refusal of aid for NO

[Skidmore]

Whether goods, money, or helping hands.

I've had it. Let's put a list together and get it to the media. This is a story that deserves to be told.

[MnFats]

1. and get a source for each item. don't let them discount these

instances of criminal negligence. There has to be an accounting.

[bettyellen]

2. and isn't it the feds who refused offers and then say it was the local gov

responsibility to deal with? well, it ain't:


DHS website: DHS assumes "primary responsibility" in natural disaster
from the DHS website:

In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort.

[whistle]

3. My recall from reports, threads, news shows throughout the week

....were:

Holland offered U.S. assistance of expertise, manpower, equipment and temporary living units to repair the broken levees. Holland of course is a country of lowlands and dikes to keep the sea from flooding the coastal areas. They know and have the latest technology to apply....Bush White House has refused their offer.

Iran (I heard this on a radio news flash earlier in the week) offered financial aid in the billions of dollars, plus an unlimited supply of crude oil at, get this, a fixed price of $35.00 per barrel until the shortages from the Gulf of Mexico interruptions could be overcome...Bush White House refused the offer immediately without discussion.

Canadian Prime Minister offered assistance....Bush White House has refused their offer.

Chicago Mayor offered assistance....Bush White House has refused their offer.

Venezuela President Chevez offered assistance....Bush White House has refused their offer.

That's what I recall at the moment.

<on Edit, I found this story>
<snip>
World pledges aid to victims
September 3, 2005 - 1:41PM

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Nations around the world are offering aid to the crisis-hit United States, with donations coming from old friends like Australia and old foes like Cuba alike.

The world is holding out its hands to a superpower in crisis, offering hurricane disaster aid ranging from a French offer of ships and aircraft to a $US25,000 ($33,000) donation by tsunami-pounded Sri Lanka.

Offers streamed in after the United States, the world's biggest single aid donor, said it would be open to assistance though it was not making an appeal for foreign aid.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed the United States' "heartfelt" gratitude for the offers of aid that have poured in from around the world following Hurricane Katrina.

"We've turned down no offers," Rice said in a news conference, when asked about rumours that Washington had refused help from Russia and France.

Even Cuban President Fidel Castro chipped in, offering 1,100 doctors as well as 26 tonnes of medicines to treat the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Advertisement
AdvertisementScenes of chaos - explosions and fires erupting in New Orleans, Louisiana, looters on the rampage, bodies in the streets, and refugees crammed into a stinking squalor in the city's Superdome - prompted an outpouring of shock and sympathy.

"Whatever they ask for, it will be given, from reserves of oil ... to any other thing that they may need," European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in Newport, Wales, during a meeting of the 25-nation bloc.

The world's industrialised countries agreed today to tap their strategic oil reserves and pour 60 million barrels into the market in a month to cope with disruptions in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The International Energy Agency said that all its 26 member states had agreed to take "collective action in response to the interrupted oil supplies in the Gulf of Mexico caused by Hurricane Katrina".

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said NATO also stood ready to contribute.

Among the major allies:

- Australia promised $10 million ($US7.5 million) through the American Red Cross.

"Given the extraordinary generosity of the United States when other countries are in need, and given the very close relationship between Australia and the United States, and given also the scale of the disaster, we believe it is a very valuable gesture and a mark of our concern for the scale of the human misery that has come from this disaster," said Prime Minister John Howard.

- British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, said he had spoken to George Bush, and Britain was ready to help "in any way that we can".

"The whole of this country feels for the people of the Gulf Coast of America who have been afflicted by what is a terrible, terrible natural tragedy," he said in a speech in Watford, England.

"We want to express our sympathy and our solidarity and give our prayers and thoughts to the people who were affected by what has happened out there on the Gulf Coast," he said.

- Germany's Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, met US ambassador to Germany, William Robert Timken, and said he had made firm offers of "medicine, water treatment and technology to help find survivors" on behalf of the German Government.

- The French foreign ministry offered eight aircraft and two ships, with 600 tents and 1,000 camp beds also available at the United States' request.

- Japan offered $US200,000 ($263,000) for the American Red Cross and up to $US300,000 ($395,000) worth of tents, blankets, power generators and water tanks. Toyota offered $US5 million ($6.5 million), Nissan $US500,000 ($657,000).

- The Canadian Defence Minister, Bill Graham, said his country was preparing a package, including an offer of military assets. Canada will also boost oil exports to the United States.

- Among others, the Netherlands, a low-lying country that depends on its system of levees, or dams, has offered to send a team of experts to help plan the reconstruction of New Orleans. Italy said it was ready to help but had not been contacted. Sweden offered medical and technical aid. Lithuania's Red Cross started taking donations and Denmark said it had ordered emergency management officials "to look into the possibilities of sending aid".

Switzerland offered help in reconstruction or the prevention of further catastrophes as well as high-power pumps and other equipment. The Spanish arm of the Red Cross said it was sending a team of logistical personnel.

Venezuela offered the US embassy in Caracas money, fuel and medical and other aid.

"The US Red Cross has asked for aid from 50 to 70 logistical personnel from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies," the Spanish organisation said.

"In response to this call the Spanish Red Cross has mobilised around 200 logisticians trained in emergency situations and between four and 10 could leave for the southeastern United States within hours."

More poignant were offers from the needy.

Sri Lanka - still recovering from the December 26 tsunami that devastated the island's coastlines and killed 31,000 people - said it had donated $US25,000 ($33,000) and asked doctors to help the relief effort.

Somalis offered sympathy.

"New Orleans looks like Mogadishu when the war started," said bus driver Aden Mohamud in Somalia's war-shattered capital.

He said he was troubled by television images that showed most of the some 300,000 desperate people still trapped in New Orleans were black.

"Maybe some whites are also starving but the African Americans are who I have seen," Mohamud said. "I am sorry they are poor like us."

<link> http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/world-pledges-aid-to-victims/2005/09/03/1125302774007.html

[whistle]

6. Other links....

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl090105usgetshelp.16cbe69d.html

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KATRINA_WORLD_OFFERS?SITE=WABEJ&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-09-01-19-10-06




I'm not sure about this article, it seems they may have overlooked a number of nations:

<snip>

Shameful: Only 25 Nations Offer Help to the U.S.
Stewart Stogel, NewsMax.com
Friday, Sept. 2, 2005
When the Indian Ocean tsunami devastated many nations across Asia in December, the United States rushed to the aid of victims by pledging hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance – just as it has offered aid whenever a natural disaster strikes in another country.


Now the U.S. is facing a catastrophe of its own from Hurricane Katrina.

Story Continues Below



Though the U.N.'s own top official for disaster relief has called Katrina one of "the largest, most destructive natural disasters ever," shamefully only a handful of nations – at last count just 25 nations of the 191 countries in the United Nations – have come forward to offer assistance.

And almost none have offered what America has so often provided: money.

And the aid so far offered by foreign nations amounts to a drop in the bucket considering the anticipated multi-billion-dollar cost of dealing with the immediate crisis and the reconstruction to follow.

President Bush has urged Americans to send cash donations to private relief organizations rather than in-kind contributions such as clothing and food.

The same could be applied to foreign nations, most of which have been on the receiving end of massive financial assistance from then U.S. over the years.

President Bush told ABC-TV Thursday morning: "I'm not expecting much from foreign nations because we hadn't asked for it. I do expect a lot of sympathy and perhaps some will send cash dollars.

"We would love help, but we're going to take care of our own business as well, and there's no doubt in my mind we'll succeed."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has decided that "no offer that can help alleviate the suffering of the people in the afflicted area will be refused," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

The American ‘Tsunami'

The offers of assistance so far pale in comparison to the aid pledged by the U.S. for tsunami relief, including $346 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Defense Department for their relief efforts, $339 million for reconstruction and $168 million to help victims with food, shelter, housing and education.

In addition, a private fund-raising campaign led by former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton brought in more than $1 billion for tsunami victims.

In fact, at least one-third of American households have donated money to an aid group in tsunami-hit nations.

Now the U.S. is trying to deal with the "American tsunami."

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan acknowledged the extent of the disaster, saying through a spokesman: "The damage is far worse than any of us imagined at first. The American people – who have always been the most generous in responding to disasters in other parts of the world – have now themselves suffered a grievous blow."

But he went on to add: "Of course the United States is also the country in the world best prepared to cope with such a disaster."

While Annan has not spoken directly with President Bush, he did meet with America's U.N. ambassador John Bolton to convey the U.N.'s readiness to help.

While it is true that America indeed is a wealthy nation, a sentiment of help and support would be appropriate and courteous. Apparently, most nations do not believe in courtesy.

Of the nations that have offered assistance to the U.S., few have offered money. China, for example, presented $100,000 to the American Red Cross.

Russia has offered boats and aircraft. On Wednesday, Russian president Vladimir Putin offered to send a group of military special forces specializing in search and rescue to the region. That offer was rejected by the State Department.

Japan has promised tents, blankets and generators. Even France offered a fire brigade.

Germany is willing to provide communications equipment. Israel, which receives $2.2 billion in U.S. aid each year, has offered to send doctors, nurses, technicians and other experts in dealing with natural disasters, as well as field hospitals and medical kits.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a vocal critic of the U.S., made a mocking offer to send cheap fuel and relief workers to the stricken area.

At about the same time he used the disaster as an opportunity to attack President Bush, calling him a "cowboy" who failed to manage the disaster.

Other nations that have offered some form of aid include Mexico, Canada, Jamaica, Honduras, the UK, Greece, the Netherlands, South Korea, Switzerland, Colombia, the United Arab Emirates and Australia.

"They're the most powerful, wealthiest country in the world, but when something like this strikes, the poor and the vulnerable are the same all around the world," said Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Ingratitude

One nation not on the list is oil-rich Kuwait, which owes its very existence to America's liberation effort following Iraq's invasion.

In fact, a high-ranking Kuwaiti official has said Hurricane Katrina was sent by Allah, adding that "disaster will keep striking the unbelievers."

No matter how much foreign aid does arrive in the U.S., it's clear that America will have to shoulder almost all the financial burden in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The size of that burden became clear when President Bush asked Congress for an initial appropriation of $10 billion. Officials say the total cost of dealing with the reconstruction will be as high as $50 billion.

Meanwhile, the U.S. could find itself with a new security nightmare.

As the Pentagon prepares to send as many as 50,000 troops to the disaster region, the White House must also find the manpower for the U.N.'s special summit, due to convene in New York on September 12.

More than 150 heads of state are expected to attend.

One topic slated for discussion is progress in relief for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

Said one U.N. official: "Now we have something new to add to the agenda."

In addition to Katrina, one topic the U.N. might include on their agenda: ingratitude.

Nations That Have Offered Katrina Hurricane Aid:

Russia
Japan
Canada
France
Honduras
Germany
Venezuela
Jamaica
Australia
UK/Northern Ireland
Netherlands
Switzerland
Greece
Hungary
Colombia
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Mexico
China
South Korea
Israel
United Arab Emirates
Taiwan
Sri Lanka
Singapore

<link> http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/9/2/121038.shtml

[bettyellen]

4. belgium

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1749656

[bettyellen]

5. her's an old thread on this...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1744533

[whistle]

7. Another story on this issue....

<snip>
Oil Prices Fall as U.S. Facilities Restart
By EDITH BALAZS
Associated Press Writer

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Crude oil prices eased Friday and gasoline futures fell for the first time in a week as investors engaged in mild profit taking. Providing some reassurance was news that several energy facilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast started up again after Hurricane Katrina.

Japan, meanwhile, said it was considering releasing some of its strategic stockpiles to meet shortages in the United States. And EU security affairs chief Javier Solana said European Union members are making offers to provide oil to the United States from their strategic reserves.


(enlarge photo)
An oil platform seen at Maracaibo lake in Cabimas, Venezuela, Thursday, Sep.1, 2005. The U.S. government has yet to respond to Chavez's offer to send planeloads of aid teams from the Simon Bolivar Humanitarian Aid Force, which includes some 2,000 soldiers, firefighters, volunteers and other specialists experienced in dealing with disasters. Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter, also pledged US$1 million in aid through its Citgo Petroleum Corp., plus fuel to help in hard-hit areas.(AP Photo/Ana Maria Otero)
Listen Now: Smith reports the administration is expected to act soon to release crude oil from the nation's strategic reserve. (requires Real Player)
But in an ominous sign, crude oil contracts from November thru February — traditionally high demand months — were all trading above $70 a barrel.

The front-month October light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 37 cents to $69.10 a barrel in European electronic trading. The contract reached an all-time high of $70.85 on Aug. 30.

Gasoline futures fell nearly 6 cents to $2.3515 a gallon, but is still twice the price from last year. Heating oil was down over five cents to $2.1450 a gallon.

On London's International Petroleum Exchange, October Brent fell 28 cents to $67.44 a barrel.

While the full impact of spiking oil prices, which are some 60 percent higher than a year ago, on world economic performance and consumer habits is impossible to assess at the moment, signs of warning are accumulating.

Recent high oil prices could trim economic growth worldwide if they remain at current levels, Fred Bergsten, director of the Institute for International Economics, a policy research organization in Washington, said Friday.

Bergsten said the three global recessions since World War II were all driven by spikes in oil prices, and although the world economy is currently very strong, the current jump in oil prices looks pretty serious.

"This could certainly dampen growth by a percentage point or two, and if it does, then you're getting pretty close to a global turndown," he told Dow Jones Newswires after giving a speech in Tokyo.

Axel Busch, an analyst at Energyintel based in London, said the temporarily halted flow of crude oil from the Middle East to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast may have all but "wiped out" the world's daily excess capacity of around 1.5 million barrels that is used to offset any unplanned production outage.

"The world's crude comfort cushion has in reality disappeared," Busch said.

"With continuing strife and tension in several of the world's oil producing hot spots, including Nigeria, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East, it would take only relatively minor supply disruptions, or another hurricane, to tip the market over the edge," he added.

Some fuel pipelines began restarting operations Friday, but the product remains in short supply after Hurricane Katrina shut down nine Gulf Coast refineries, disrupted gasoline pipelines to the Midwest and East and stopped 90 percent of the oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Gulf is responsible for around 30 percent of U.S. crude production and quarter of its gas. A large portion of U.S. oil imports also arrive at Gulf Coast ports.

The U.S. federal Minerals Management Service said the percentage of oil offline in the Gulf of Mexico was around 90 percent of total output while gas around 79 percent of total daily production. Total lost oil output since Aug. 26 was 7.44 million barrels.

Hurricane Katrina damaged or displaced an estimated 58 Gulf of Mexico oil platforms and drilling rigs, according to the American Petroleum Institute. Among those, 30 rigs and platforms have been reported lost. No company breakdown was available, said Tim Sampson, an API spokesman.

President George W. Bush agreed earlier this week to tap the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. ExxonMobil Corp. has received a 6 million barrel loan from the emergency stockpile, Dow Jones Newswires reported Friday.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said it had received a call exploring the option of releasing some oil reserves from the International Energy Agency, a Paris-based oil market watchdog under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Japan has one of the largest petroleum reserves in the world, with 320.7 million barrels as of June 30.

Panic buying and delayed gasoline deliveries sparked shortages at a number of gas stations across the United States, mostly along the East Coast and in Midwest states. Station owners said many of the shortages were temporary.

A newly released Associated Press poll Thursday showed 24 percent of Americans listed soaring fuel prices as their chief concern — second only to the war in Iraq — as gas prices jumped by as much as 50 cents overnight in some states.

Last year's Hurricane Ivan knocked out more than 40 million barrels in total and sent petroleum prices soaring. Analysts are saying Katrina has the potential to cause as much — if not more — damage to energy markets, where it has already been compared to the oil shocks of the 1970s.

___
Associated Press Writer En-Lai Yeoh in Singapore contributed to this report.

September 2, 2005 - 5:43 a.m. EDT

<link> http://www.ajc.com/business/content/shared-gen/ap/Finance_General/Oil_Prices.html

[Skidmore]

8. Adding

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4629391

Ice truck stopped by FEMA


Please, people. Let's get this together.

[Roland99]

9. Adding several stories:

From the BBC (no link yet)

quote:

A: Now I'm sure you're aware of the criticism that the authorities have been slow to respond to this. When did you get the order to start relief work?

K: NorthCom started planning before the storm even hit. We were ready for the storm when it hit Florida because, as you remember, it crossed the bottom part of Florida, and then we were plaining, you know, once it was pointed towards the Gulf Coast. So what we did was we activated what we call defense coordinating officers to work with the state to say okay, what do you think you'll need, and we set up staging bases that could be started. We had the USS Baton sailing almost behind the hurricane so that after the hurricane made landfall it's search and rescue helicopters would be available almost immediately. So we had things ready. The only caveat is, we have to wait until the President authorizes us to do so. The laws of the United States say that the military can't just act in this fashion, we have to wait for the President to give us permission.



US declines Swedish water sanitation aid
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050904/sc_afp/usweatheraidsweden_050904103725

Navy ship nearby underused --Craft with food, water, doctors needed orders
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509040369sep04,1,4144825.story

Daley 'shocked' as feds reject aid
http://www.chicagosuntimes.com/output/hurricane/cst-nws-daley03.html


FEMA-controlled La. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife turn back volunteers with boats
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/3/171718/0826

[linazelle]

10. I started a thread earlier, and have some links. Why duplicate efforts?nt

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4629470

[Roland99]

11. This one was started a few hrs ago

;)

[Skidmore]

12. We need to be able to fix these thread at the top of a page or

in a specific place. Any suggestions about how to go about this from anyone? Mods?

[Skidmore]

13. Kick

I'm having trouble keeping up with this. We're having thunderstorms in our area and my electricity and my dialup keep knocking out on me. Can someone help with this?

[bettyellen]

14. kick

[bettyellen]

15. chicago

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1748581

[bribri16]

16. They are getting their talking points in order: blame the state and local

officials in NO. Haven't heard any of that about MS or AL.
Gen. Honeree is appearing with Bush, they have excluded gov Blanco and obviously co-opted the mayor. They will appear together to the people in the shelters and appear that they are the saviors and that everything is the fault of their governor and mayor. If you were listenting to MSNBC you hear the LA Congressman place all the blame on state officials. He said it so much it made it very transparent.
Don't let them get away with it.

[bribri16]

17. I wanted to recommend this post but it was too late. n/t