Posted on 09/04/2005 11:39:17 PM PDT by smoothsailing
State and local officials did not inform top federal officials early on of the deaths and lack of food among hurricane victims in the Superdome or convention center, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday.
Mr. Chertoff said neither he nor Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown was told of the deteriorating situation in New Orleans until Thursday night.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
Information gleaned from observing the scene is incomplete and subject to misinterpretation (for example, the shooting incident yesterday). If they observe something, they should check with their government sources to verify it.
That is why it would not be responsible for Chertoff to let CNN be his sitrep consultant.
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Yes, as iThinkBig quoted from President Reagan, "trust but verify".
I hope at least as many prayers for wisdom and guidance are going up as there is second guessing and criticism.
Ok, look at it this way. You're Chertoff. You know that the Louisiana State and Municipal govt's are outright lying and covering their asses. You know that all your subordinates are busting their asses trying to move every possible asset at your command into effective action. (Knowing that in any group of people that size there will be screwups, honest and stupid.) Unlike the LA elected leadership, you can't and won't get away with whining and complaining and bursting into tears to avoid uncomfortable questions.
Now, as part of your job, you have to stand in front of some overpaid, self-aggrandizing, totally useless member of the MainStreamMedia who you KNOW GOING IN has an agenda to make you look as bad as possible. You tell me, how are you going to make yourself look good?
Too many forget about other forms of transportation. The trains....should have been used prior to the storm, no delays no being stuck in traffic. Just send them out of the path and could have made several trips, just as the buses could have been utilized. But elect a DUmocrat....take your chances if you choose.
Between Travis Mcgee, Paleo Conservative, myself and a few others, we are hitting any thread several times with those pictures in different montages.
Also, kcvl, backhoe, cindy, ernest at the beach and other great indexers on FR have been pinged with the picture's and Travis's data re the Planned Evacuation.
Aye. Apparently the White House staff spent no small amount of time Friday & Saturday before the storm hit dithering about technical legalities and stupid jurisdictional issues. Sure, things improved once the President got back to Washington, but that was, what, Tuesday? Damage had already been done.
SW
A bit like running a battle via CBS.
The interview Doug from Upland and I were referring to was held in Mississippi, where Chertoff has been since Tuesday night. (remember, seawall broke Tuesday morning) And yes, he has better comm than the rest of the storm damaged area at that time. The point he was making was by Thursday morning, when we started seeing reports from the Convention Center , as opposed to the Superdome, was when he received reports on the problem, and began to deal with it. (remember, to the background of people sniping at helos, LA Govt. still not releasing authority to various National Guard groups, LA and other States, which by law are the only troups under US Law that are permitted to perform Law Enforcement within the Continental US. Posse Comutatus, remember?)
Looking at your other points, it seems they make the other posters point for him. Since the local officials had no reliable communications and FEMA officials were sitting outside the city waiting for a safe ride in, who are these boots on the ground? The police who had been dealing with looters and snipers for five days with little food or water themselves and little sleep. Seems like they have a little mroe on their hands than feeding intel to buearocrats.
Again, remember; FEMA money had been going into that state for the last 3/4 years to be spent to upgrade that communications equipment, first responders, and emergency planning. Chertoff and the Federal govt expected that to have been done. Now, with the LA Political structure having been caught with their pants down, and probably sweating the discovery that the money is not where it was supposed to be, cooperation from them is probably not going to be forthcoming. Why do you suppose every Democratic Party Politician in LA is dancing and spinning so hard and so fast? The Mayor, Governor, and Senator are sweeping madly at the tide they know is coming their way, and enlisting every Democratic Party POL they have anything on to join in. In the end, all the tide-sweeping will be as effective as you can imagine. Not So?
CNN first reported what was going on at the convention center, Thursday morning. Brown saw the coverage of what was going on at the convention center, Thursday morning.
What's the problem?
Maybe we are OK with this.
No one actually got to the convention center to start assessing the problem and evacuating the people til the 3rd. That's the problem.
They had 12 hours by the time they finally mandated an evacuation.
It was taking people in cars 12-15 hours to get out. Where do you get your four hours? Do you assume that the all knowing local government is going to plan and execute an evacuation before the residents with cars fill the highways? I dont think so.
Also, how were you going to force those 300,000 to get onboard. It would take at least a day or two to get the national guard mobilized and into New Orleans to force people to get on board. Now you've got another 10,000 national guard folks to get out of town.
By the way, what if there is an road blockage and the buses are all trapped out in the open. Now you have 300,000 people without even a house to protect them from the hurricane. What are you going to do now, circle the buses?
Yup. GWB missed a great opportunity.
Those are not Chertoff's words.
"That 'perfect storm' of a combination of catastrophes exceeded the foresight of the planners, and maybe anybody's foresight," Chertoff said.
Chertoff was talking about the lack of a local plan. He was being charitable.
His less than forceful image and seeming lack of command of the facts do not inspire confidence.
You've not demonstrated that.
Whatever the reason, his failure to act on quelling the looters and chaos at the convention center and Superdome until Friday undermined the huge relief effort, which has been remarkable.
The Gaurd found out about the Convention Center on Thursday morning and respond in short order.
1. They waited TOO LONG to mandate evacuation.
2. They did NOTHING to assist the evacuation.
3. However many hours it took the other folks to "get out", they GOT OUT!
4. Four hours would have been enough to get to higher ground -- if the evacuation started soon enough.
5. For the initial evacuation, you don't force any able bodied folks to go....but you take the old, feeble, sick, and willing.
6. Trapped in the open perhaps, but above the water, and if they went in the right direction -- away from the full force of the wind.
It's as simple as this......no plan is perfect.
No implementation is perfect, and fully succesful...
But these bastards delayed too long, and then did NOTHING right.
Semper Fi
Didn't they show up on Thursday or was it later?
The primary question is what did they know and when did they know it. The situation was like a war, and there is such a thing as the fog of war. Only in restrospect can we penetrate it, and after everyone has told their story.
Collins, Chafee, Voinovavich, Stevens...ai yi yi!
Please ping me on your list, Gramps!
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