Is the Bush/Cheney lack of response to Katrina a crime against humanity?

[Cyrano]

No one knows whether it was hundreds or thousands who died from the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

Imo, Bush didn't even know that a hurricane was hitting New Orleans. Probably, the most he could be charged with is criminal indifference.

Cheney, however, the real power behind the throne, is constantly informed of everything, including the fact that Tony Blair cut a fart within a minute after it happened.

He knew about Katrina before, during and after. Yet he just sat there in Wyoming playing golf, or whatever it is he plays with.

This man is a menace and if there's any way possible, he should someday be held responsible for crimes against humanity. (And this doesn't even include Iraq.)

(P.S. FEMA has already told Florida not to expect any help if a hurricane hits. Sounds like another order directly from Shotgun Dick.)

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Ummmm, who cut funding for levee reinforcement and or

reconstruction???


DO THE MATH: >>In fiscal year 2004, the Corps requested $11 million for the project. The President’s budget allocated $3 million, and Congress furnished $5.5 million. Similarly, in fiscal 2005 the Corps requested $22.5 million, which the President cut to $3.9 million in his budget.<<



http://www.factcheck.org/article344.html
Bush Cut Funding

Blumenthal's much-quoted article in salon.com carried the headline: "No one can say they didn't see it coming." And it said the Bush administration cut flood-control funding "to pay for the Iraq war."

He continues:

Blumenthal: With its main levee broken, the evacuated city of New Orleans has become part of the Gulf of Mexico . But the damage wrought by the hurricane may not entirely be the result of an act of nature.

…By 2003 the federal funding for the flood control project essentially dried up as it was drained into the Iraq war. In 2004, the Bush administration cut funding requested by the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain by more than 80 percent. Additional cuts at the beginning of this year…forced the New Orleans district of the Corps to impose a hiring freeze.

We can confirm that funding was cut. The project most closely associated with preventing flooding in New Orleans was the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Hurricane Protection Project, which was “designed to protect residents between Lake Pontchartrain and the Missisippi River levee from surges in Lake Pontchartrain,” according to a fact sheet from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (The fact sheet is dated May 23, long before Katrina). The multi-decade project involved building new levees, enlarging existing levees, and updating other protections like floodwalls. It was scheduled to be completed in 2015.

[Lefty48197]

2. No doubt about it.

They should be tried in the Hague.

[Merlot]

3. Don't make excuses for him - he's the president - he SHOULD know

And IMO, bush did know and didn't care.

Crime against humanity. Yes.

[Octafish]

4. Bush was briefed and did NOTHING.

He left Americans to DIE.

MASS MURDERER

[stray cat]

5. Incompetence or negligent homicide perhaps

[Coastie for Truth]

6. The legalistic term is NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE

Negligent homicide is a charge brought against persons, who by inaction, allow others under their care to die. This offense mostly concerns itself with the death of small infants or children, the handicapped, or the elderly. An example of such a case is when an elderly person is allowed to accumulate bedsores, as they are not helped out of a couch or bed for a prolonged period of time and die as a result of necrotic tissue. If a more able person, often a son or daughter, was present or expected to be present during the time when the elderly person was accumulating bedsores, they may be found liable of negligent homicide, as their inaction and blantant disregard for human life resulted in the death of someone under their care. Negligent homicide generally only applies if a pattern of negligence resulted in the death of the individual. Turning your back on a child while he falls into a well, while tragic, and a result of a moment of negligence would be considered a horrible accident and a terrible lesson, not negligent homicide. This offense is considered less serious then 1st and 2nd degree murder, in the sense that someone guilty of this offense can expect a more lenient sentence, often with imprisonment time comparable to manslaughter.

Real reason - easier to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" then "crimes against humanity"