Save the money on what went wrong.
We can tell what went wrong. A mayor who didn't use resources at his disposal to remove people from harm's way.
A Governor who needed 24 hours to make a decision, cries every five seconds, and doesn't want to cede any control to the feds, all while not taking control of the situation herself.
NAGIN: The president looked at me. I think he was a little surprised. He said, "No, you guys stay here. We're going to another section of the plane, and we're going to make a decision."
He called me in that office after that. And he said, "Mr. Mayor, I offered two options to the governor." I said -- and I don't remember exactly what. There were two options. I was ready to move today. The governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision.
S. O'BRIEN: You're telling me the president told you the governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision?
NAGIN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Regarding what? Bringing troops in?
NAGIN: Whatever they had discussed. As far as what the -- I was abdicating a clear chain of command, so that we could get resources flowing in the right places.
S. O'BRIEN: And the governor said no.
NAGIN: She said that she needed 24 hours to make a decision. It would have been great if we could of left Air Force One, walked outside, and told the world that we had this all worked out. It didn't happen, and more people died.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0509/05/ltm.01.html
Well if I were Nagin I would be more than a bit irked at Blanco at that juncture, for not hopping in and saving my bacon.
Um, did he actually say he was *abdicating*?
ab-di-cate (ab'di kayt ) v. <-cat-ed, -cat-ing>He probably meant "advocating", but man, what a Freudian slip...v.t. 1. to give up or renounce (authority, duties, a high office, etc.), esp. in a voluntary, public, or formal manner.
NAGIN: The president looked at me. I think he was a little surprised. He said, "No, you guys stay here. We're going to another section of the plane, and we're going to make a decision."Speculation is that 1 option was ...He called me in that office after that. And he said, "Mr. Mayor, I offered two options to the governor." I said -- and I don't remember exactly what. There were two options. I was ready to move today. The governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision.
The Bush Administration attempted to invoke" The Insurrection Act" (Title 10 USC, Sections 331-335) in order to provide a strong viable law enforcement presence in Louisiana and protect military personnel (title 10) against possible prosecution. This act allows the president to use U.S. military personnel at the request of a state legislature or governor to suppress insurrections. However, the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana would have had to state on the record that they had lost control of the situation in New Orleans and that a state of "anarchy" existed. Obviously, the politicians of Louisiana were unwilling to pay that political price.My guess is that the other option was to Federalize the National Guard - likely a similar action, but not involving the use of active duty military. In short, both options discussed dealt with prompt restoration of civil order, but Blanco NEVER wants to admit that civil order was lost.
Hence, the media focus is shifting to the slow response and is ignoring the fact that civil unrest was serious, and rampant, and casued a significant part of the delay in relief response. The Loisian authorities told the Red Cross not to come in after the hurricane, and the reason given was civil disorder.