White House Katrina Report says MILITARY should be involved, blames no one

[Nothing Without Hope]

This is what we have been expecting: the report, as Harry Reid says, “It is, regrettably, an understated and oftentimes self-congratulatory report written by those who were part of one of the most damaging and disturbing government failures in our history.” The report parallels the report of the special all-Republican House committee -- Democrats boycotted the panel -- that was released earlier. The Democrats insist that an independent commission is necessary and that Chertoff should be removed from office. In fact, Chertoff is not even chastised in the report.

Of special concern is the expected statement that the military will play a greater role, but exactly what this is supposed to be is not spelled out, and I believe this vagueness is deliberate. The National Response Plan will be rewritten, and extreme and detailed care will have to be taken that it is not approved with language that effectively destroys Posse Comitatus, allows federalization of the National Guard, or gives other unconstitutional powers to the President and the military. You can bet that the Administration will try to rush through a version that will promote one of their primary aims – increased power to the President – and the stated goal that all changes should be finalized by June 1 will make it all too easy for them to pressure for fast, uncritical approval.

The full WH Katrina report is here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/reports/katrina-lessons-learned/index.html

Here is the Washington Post report on this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/23/AR2006022300236.html

Katrina Report Urges Retooled Disaster Plans

By Christopher Lee and Michael A. Fletcher
Friday, February 24, 2006; Page A01

(snip)

In a 228-page report that emphasized bureaucratic problems rather than failures of leadership, White House homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend detailed a host of problems in the federal approach to the most destructive natural disaster in the nation's history. The report contained 125 recommendations for improvement -- including 11 critical steps to be taken before the next hurricane season begins June 1.

(snip)

Few of the report's remedies require congressional action. The recommended fixes include:

• Relying more on the military to play a significant supporting role when state and local first responders are overwhelmed.
  
• Rewriting the National Response Plan…
  
• Adopting private-sector methods of tracking supplies and managing deliveries of commodities in affected areas…
  
• Developing a more comprehensive national communications system for first responders…
  
• Creating a one-stop process for federal assistance to disaster victims…

(snip - additional suggested changes follow)

David Heyman, a homeland security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the report fails to articulate the role the military would play in the next big disaster.

"The question is whether there is a new paradigm where the Department of Defense takes the lead as opposed to the Department of Homeland Security with the DOD as a support function," Heyman said. "It's unclear what the role of the military will be, and that needs to be cleared up."

(snip)

For background showing the long-term planning by the WH to grab more power, including military power in the US, see this thread and the links posted in its replies:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4790112
thread title (9-16-05 GD): Missing A KEY POINT in *'s speech: POWER GRAB FOR POTUS AND MILITARY

ed: typo

[hippiechick]

1. Yeah, but ... all our military's playin' in the desert at the moment.

So now whatchagonna do, Boy George? :freak:

[DeltaLady]

10. If only that were true!!!

When Blackwater and the 82nd came to town, things got very serious. These folks, unlike our homegrown national guard, are PROFESSIONAL WARRIORS. They have no training in how to handle civilians - and did not create warm fuzzy feelings in New Orleans. They treated people as if they had no rights at all, barked orders at them, and behaved, well, like the military. They did not come to deliver aid; in point of fact they drove by desperate folks who needed their help without so much as a nod. Make no mistake, they were here to follow orders and those orders did not include "helping" anybody.

This may be the last wake up call to the nation before we begin our final descent into true "domestic terrorism," created by a power mad president and executed by a willing military.

[Nothing Without Hope]

13. The shipping out and using up of the National Guard was part of the plan

I believe this strongly. Here's a very important and scary thread on this from last August 30:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4519574
thread title (Aug 30 2006): Think about the implications of this: Nat'l Guard in Iraq, NorthCom HERE.

This thread from last August is a must-read, including the replies, along with the September one at the end of the opening post.

[Rex]

2. Well traditionally the NG would have helped clean up Bush's mess

but they are all over in Iraq fighting a pointless war.

[geomon666]

3. I am just so sick of this crap.

I'm ready to just throw my hands up and walk across the border.

[Time for change]

4. That's what this administration is all about

Blaming no one -- when they are responsible for a disaster
And power grabs.

What a nightmare these last five years have been, huh?

[DeltaLady]

5. Not frightened yet? Try this link.

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5115On

Sept. 26, President Bush urged Congress to consider revising federal laws so that the U.S. military could seize control immediately in the aftermath of a natural disaster, noting that "it may require change of law."

The law the president seems to be referring to is the Posse Comitatus Act, the longstanding federal statute that restricts the government's ability to use the U.S. military as a police force.

Sen. John Warner, R.-Va., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, also has signaled his desire to change the law.

Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita called Posse Comitatus a "very archaic" statute that hampers the president's ability to respond to a crisis.

[Nothing Without Hope]

9. Ah yes, Posse Comitatus is a "very archaic" statute- like the CONSTITUTION

They've been working toward this for years and have set up Katrina, even before the hurricane hit New Orleans, as their enabling event. I've gone through that throughout the Sept 2005 thread given at the end of the opening post.

Oh yes, I'm scared all right. It's not like they've been shy about saying what they want. They blackmailed Blanco to give it to them when they were withholding crucial federal aid from her state - they want federalization of the National Guard and total control by the President with the US military under him. Just like for martial law - and in fact, there is no obvious way to distinguish it.

[Nothing Without Hope]

6. ***NYT report on this has a bit more, none of it reassuring -LINK/EXCERPT:

Overall, Professor Michael Greenberger, a law professor and domestic security expert at the University of Maryland, says, "The pendulum is swinging, and it is swinging to someone being in charge of the response by the whole government, working out of the White House, not in the Department of Homeland Security."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/24/politics/24katrina.html
The Federal Response

Homeland Security Would Share Duties for Disaster Response Under Proposal

By ERIC LIPTON
Published: February 24, 2006

(snip)

The Homeland Security Department and its Federal Emergency Management Agency will continue to be the lead federal player in disaster response efforts, according to the blueprint proposed by Ms. Townsend. But the Pentagon may take over the commanding role during catastrophes "of extraordinary scope and nature," like a nuclear attack or "multiple simultaneous terrorist attacks causing a breakdown in civil society," the report says, citing examples even more extreme than Hurricane Katrina.

More routinely, the military will be expected to provide logistical support, including sending troops to deliver supplies or rescue victims.

The Justice Department, which now shares responsibility for disaster law enforcement efforts with the Homeland Security Department, would be primarily charged with that even in less severe disasters. The reassignment was attributed to the slow and disorganized response to lawlessness in New Orleans.

The Department of Health and Human Services, meanwhile, would take back from FEMA the disaster medical teams it used to supervise before the Department of Homeland Security was established. And the Department of Housing and Urban Development would be expected to find temporary housing for victims, a duty also now handled by FEMA, which Ms. Townsend said placed too much emphasis on buying travel trailers and mobile homes rather than on finding apartments or other options.

(snip)

[DeltaLady]

7. I'm soooo glad some of us are on top of this.

Hanging on by my fingernails and hoping it does slip under the radar.

[Dr. Jones]

8. It's Bush's power grab!

His effort to repeal Posse Comitatus for good. That's what they're after, and that's actually what they tried after Katrina. It was simply the brave stand taken by Governor Blanco against Bush's desire to completely militarize the disaster response that REALLY saved the day.

Remember, all previous disasters have been responsed to by the National Guard with FEMA in a supporting role. Whatever happened to that? Oh yeah, I forgot. They're all out there in Iraq fighting Bush's war of choice.

[Virginia Dare]

11. National disaster response was just fine

when Clinton was President, no? Heck of a job Chimpy!

[Nothing Without Hope]

12. ***NYT report on this was completely rewritten to remove blame, make

more optimistic/bland:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x511303
thread title (2-24-06 GD): STOP the PRESSES! NY Times does it again! Changes WH Katrina report story.
The headline was the same, but the story was completely rewritten, with no explanation. Poster gives examples of the changes made and sums it up: “Maybe this is par for the course. But I don’t ever recall returning to a story the next day and seeing it so drastically re-written, in both content and drift. Yesterday's story said, basically, that Homeland Security was a failure, and we need to go back to the old ways of doing things. Today's story might as well have read ‘ DHS is going just fine! They're still in charge, and only require a little tweaking!’ No, the new byline did NOT say Karl Rove (although maybe it should have).”

Yes, I do believe the NYT must have had a call from the White House. They responded promptly, with much doggy whining and licking of the master's...hands.

[Nothing Without Hope]

14. ***And still more about the WH Katrina Report from TIME MAGAZINE:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1167076,00.html
Web Exclusive| Nation

Speed Read: The White House Katrina Report

The Bush Administration prefers to look forward, not backward. But its focus on expanding the federal role in future disaster relief may be easier said than done
By AMANDA RIPLEY/WASHINGTON
Posted Thursday, Feb. 23, 2006

(snip)

...The report finds "significant flaws" in the National Response Plan, a framework for handling disasters that the Department of Homeland Security unveiled at the beginning of last year. The report calls for a 90-day review of the plan and says it should be changed to anticipate that the feds may need to temporarily assume some state and local responsibilities.

It also urges the federal government to be prepared to carry out a mass evacuation if state and local officials can’t do so. That means making sure states and locals have (and rehearse) good plans — which must include strategies for dealing with the sick and elderly, whose particular plight after Katrina was one of the most troubling aspects of the relief operations. The report suggests that locals should not get federal disaster money if they have not completed such plans in advance.

(snip)

...The report also recommends that the Defense Department do more, sooner after a big disaster, helping to expedite search and rescue operations, as well as evacuations and the delivery of supplies. But this is a not exactly a new idea. The same recommendation came out after the government’s dismal response to Hurricane Andrew in 1992. For political, legal and historical reasons, this is much easier said than done.

The report urges federal agencies to make a slew of changes before June 1, which is ambitious. In the meantime, stay tuned for the Senate to issue its own Katrina report sometime in the next several weeks.

[DeltaLady]

15. Sheesh...I guess most others, even here, won't pay much

attention until they're being frog marched to the camps...Hard to fathom, but then of course I'm a New Orleanian who has been very concerned since hearing from some left behind (I evacuated sunday evening; Katrina arrived monday morning)...what they witnessed...what they felt. One of my (former apolitical) friends is now singing much louder than a canary in a mine.

Thank you for all your wonderful links :-)

[Nothing Without Hope]

17. Good wishes to you and yours, DeltaLady!

:pals:

[spanone]

16. Medal Of Freedoms for Everyone.....

[suffragette]

18. They keep pounding at this one

When it hasn't worked one way, Warner's direct try on it right after Katrina, they go about it from a different direction and keep pushing.
This is very troubling. They obviously want it very badly.
Thank you, NWH, for posting on this.

[Disturbed]

19. The Neo Fascist Regime of Amerika...

seeks to control every aspect of American people's peronal lives and privatize everything else.

The Right Wing Agenda

Abolish

Social Security
Medicare
Employer supplied health insurance
Unemployment Benefits
Welfare
Abortion Rights
Collective Bargaining
EPA
Public Education
Public Housing
IRS

[Nothing Without Hope]

20. kick - more people need to realize this. n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

21. kick - Senate Katrina report is still to come. n/t

[annabanana]

22. too late to nominate..

but kickin to the top anyway.