Katrina: A timeline -- proof the Federal response was NOT SLOW

White House.gov; multiple news & other sources ^ | 9/3/05

[cpdiii]

What the media will not address is the fact that the vast majority of the people left when ordered to leave. They got in their cars and drove away. Those that were not able to leave because they were ill, infirm, or had no means to leave were not able to leave because those responsible to provide the means to leave did not provide this nor did they have any plans prior to the flooding for evacuating these people. Those responsible for this are not the Federal Government and George Bush but the State of Louisiana Government and in particular the Governor of Louisiana and the Major of New Orleans. The corrupt New Orleans police force (some not all) is a subject all its own. They police work for the Major. If news reports are accurate some 30% of them abandoned their posts and more than one was looting.

[Wolfstar]

My one concern is that, although I've read the article twice, I'm not certain if the Friday referred to is yesterday or last Friday.

Nice of the WaPo to make the details of their story clear. They give out Pulitzers for such "excellent" reporting. Barf.

[MJY1288]

Great job :-)

[McGavin999]

Excellent work Wolfstar.

Print this out folks, save a copy of this to your hard drives and e-mail it to everyone you know.

[Theophilus]

The idiots on the left and in the media would hate the President just as much, and would still be unsatisfied if he had ordered Air Force One to participate in the evacuation, turned his daughters over to calm the rapists and then drowned himself and his entire cabinet in Lake Pontchartrain trying to plug the breach with their bodies.

[Wolfstar]

Thanks.

[Wolfstar]

That's a great image of the storm track, Diddle.

[new cruelty]

September 26th

Now I'm really in a daze...

[Wolfstar]

Thanks. :-)

[bitt]

he is a bonehead. nuff said,

[satchmodog9]

Thanks for the work. Now I can easily reference things to shove down liberal throats.

[sgtyork]

Sorry, your time line doesn't make sense.

Why would you be bringing in food before the hurricane hit land? Given that they so often change direction, you have to wait until the land fall.

Then you have to remember that everything seemed ok when the eye of the hurrican passed to the east of New Orleans. The catastrophe began when the levee failed. Aid arrived in about 72 hours....which is how long FEMA guides local authorities to prepare for their own support.

[Wolfstar]

Sounds to me like the feds tried to help them plan the dinner party, but they refused the help.

I think that's exactly what happened.

[Peach]

As howlin has mentioned elsewhere, chronologically, the next paragraph mentions that as of Wednesday, a few days ago, Blanco hadn't even asked for other National Guard support from states.

Let's hope Republicans on the Sunday shows and other interviews make this clear as a bell.

[Peach]

That's how I read it too, but I have freepers disagreeing with me.

[DaveTesla]

Is it me or did the Governor and the Mayor play politics
with this situation?
What arrogance.
It's like having your house catch fire and try to put it out
with a garden hose. When that fails you call the fire department
(Actually you didn't call they just noticed the smoke plume in the horizon).
and when they arrive you tell the fire chief to STAND DOWN.
Then you try to operate the fire pump truck yourself and
when you house burns to the ground you publicly blame the
fire department!


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680.html

Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.

The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly.

A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal authority to federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of command that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor.

Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.

"The federal government stands ready to work with state and local officials to secure New Orleans and the state of Louisiana," White House spokesman Dan Bartlett said. "The president will not let any form of bureaucracy get in the way of protecting the citizens of Louisiana."

Blanco made two moves Saturday that protected her independence from the federal government: She created a philanthropic fund for the state's victims and hired James Lee Witt, Federal Emergency Management Agency director in the Clinton administration, to advise her on the relief effort.

[JulieRNR21]

This thread has details about chain of responsibility for protecting the citizens of New Orleans.

Perhaps of interest for your timeline........

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1476862/posts

[I got the rope]

No way! Democrats and MSM are pure POS.

[roses of sharon]

WE are doing it now.

[Wolfstar]

You are a wonder, thank you for this. There must be an award for such work!

Hi Fudd. The only "reward" I need or want is to have this info spread as far and wide as possible.