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(Internal) Dispute Hampered Red Cross Response (Not Bush, Not FEMA)
AP ^ | 2/27/06

Posted on 02/27/2006 11:21:36 AM PST by Mr. Brightside

Today: February 27, 2006 at 11:17:14 PST

Dispute Hampered Red Cross Response

By HOPE YEN

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) - A bitter struggle between the American Red Cross board and the charity's senior management contributed to its uneven response to Hurricane Katrina, according to internal documents made public Monday.

Less than two months after the Sept. 11 attacks, board member Bill George warned Red Cross chairman David McLaughlin to resolve the group's internal disputes or risk a repeat of the problems that plagued the 2001 relief effort.

At the time, the nation's largest charity was reeling from CEO Bernadine Healy's resignation amid charges it had mismanaged Sept. 11 donations.

"The worst thing we could do is to gloss over the split on the board, make some superficial changes in governance, and see the whole scenario repeated three or four years from now," George wrote in an Oct. 29, 2001, e-mail.

Four years later, the group's next CEO, Marsha Evans, would resign in the aftermath of Katrina, citing board friction.

Thousands of pages of Red Cross e-mail, corporate documents and whistleblower complaints were released Monday by the Senate Finance Committee. They paint a picture of an organization hampered by its mammoth structure, which gives local chapters extensive control and limits the power of the CEO to respond quickly in a major disaster.

The Red Cross did not have an immediate comment Monday. The charity has maintained it responded to Katrina the best it could in circumstances almost unimaginable, while acknowledging that it stumbled in "technology, logistics and coordination."

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TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: Louisiana
KEYWORDS: arc; katrina; redcross

1 posted on 02/27/2006 11:21:38 AM PST by Mr. Brightside
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To: Mr. Brightside

The blame belongs to Nagin and BlankO, first and foremost.


2 posted on 02/27/2006 11:34:51 AM PST by OldFriend
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To: Mr. Brightside

Here is a rare image of what "almost unimaginable circumstances" looked like.


3 posted on 02/27/2006 11:35:32 AM PST by Steely Tom (Your taboos are not my taboos.)
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To: Mr. Brightside

I've found te Red Cross to be totally inept, full of crap, and just downrght stupid. I wouldn't give them another plug nickel on a bad bet. I'll give my cash to the Salvation Army as they seem to know what they are doing.


4 posted on 02/27/2006 12:17:16 PM PST by geezerwheezer (get up boys, we're burnin' daylight!!!)
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To: geezerwheezer

Good choice. The Salvation Army does know what it is doing and Who it is working for.


5 posted on 02/27/2006 1:02:14 PM PST by conservative blonde (Conservative Blonde)
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To: geezerwheezer
I'll give my cash to the Salvation Army as they seem to know what they are doing.

Bump that!

6 posted on 02/27/2006 4:32:24 PM PST by ScreamingFist ( Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. NRA)
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To: Mr. Brightside
The charity has maintained it responded to Katrina the best it could in circumstances almost unimaginable, while acknowledging that it stumbled in "technology, logistics and coordination."

What? I thought they used the 9/11 donations to buy new computers and phone systems.

-PJ

7 posted on 02/27/2006 4:34:41 PM PST by Political Junkie Too (It's still not safe to vote Democrat.)
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To: Mr. Brightside

Looks like what Lawrence Summers, almost ex-President of Hahvahd, meant to say was "Women are not very good at math, sciences or being the CEO of the Red Cross."


8 posted on 02/27/2006 9:06:50 PM PST by Rembrandt (We would have won Viet Nam w/o Dim interference.)
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To: Rembrandt

You forgot "governor".



Blanco's Gotta Geaux


9 posted on 02/28/2006 12:20:30 PM PST by Roux
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