Posted on 02/01/2006 6:21:17 PM PST by Indy Pendance
WASHINGTON - The White House and Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff failed to provide decisive action when Hurricane Katrina struck, congressional investigators said Wednesday in a stinging assessment of slow federal relief efforts.
The White House had no clear chain of command in place, investigators with the Government Accountability Office said, laying much of the blame on President Bush for not designating a single official to coordinate federal decision-making for the Aug. 29 storm. Bush has accepted responsibility for the government's halting response, but for the most part then-FEMA Director Michael Brown, who quit days after the hurricane hit, has been the public face of the failures.
"That's up to the president of the United States," GAO Comptroller General David M. Walker told reporters after being asked whether Chertoff should have been the lead official during the emergency.
"It could have been Secretary Chertoff" or someone on the White House staff, Walker added. "That's up to the president."
The report, which the congressional agency said was preliminary, also singled out Chertoff for several shortcomings. Chertoff has largely escaped direct criticism for the government's poor preparations and slow rescue efforts.
The Homeland Security Department angrily responded to the GAO report, calling the preliminary findings a publicity stunt riddled with errors. Homeland Security oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency and issued a national plan last year for coordinating federal disaster response with state and local agencies.
In their nine-page report, investigators noted that they had urged the Clinton White House to appoint a single disaster coordinator more than a decade ago after the destruction wrought by Hurricane Andrew. Still, they said, the Bush administration continued the failure with the lack of a clear chain of command and that led to internal confusion when Katrina struck.
"In the absence of timely and decisive action and clear leadership responsibility and accountability, there were multiple chains of command," the report found.
The assessment the first of several reports about the response to Katrina noted that Chertoff authorized additional federal assistance to overwhelmed state and local resources on Aug. 30, a day after the storm hit. But Chertoff did not specifically classify the storm as a catastrophic disaster, which would have triggered a faster response.
"As a result, the federal response generally was to wait for the affected states to request assistance," the report found.
In another stab at Chertoff, the report called for Homeland Security to provide stronger advance training and planning for future disasters including taking better advantage of the military's ability to rescue and evacuate victims, provide supplies and assess damage.
Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke called the report misleading because federal officials and supplies were already at the Gulf Coast before Katrina hit. He said Chertoff did not activate a government plan for dealing with catastrophes because it is used only to respond to unexpected disasters.
The report "displays a significant misunderstanding of core aspects of the Katrina response that could have easily been corrected in the most basic conversations with" Homeland Security leaders, Knocke said.
Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., who is leading a special House investigation of the Katrina response, said the GAO findings will be included in his own panel's conclusions, which are due Feb. 15.
"I'm very hopeful that our final report will answer a lot of questions the American people have," Davis said. "The most obvious being: How could our government fail so badly?"
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, in Washington to testify before a separate Senate-led Katrina inquiry, said he was not surprised at the report's conclusions.
"One of the big challenges in this event was the chain of command issue," Nagin told The Associated Press. "And for something that was a multistate event, something that pretty much overwhelmed local government, we need to figure out how to do this better in the future."
However, a transcript of an Aug. 28 briefing as Katrina bore down on the region indicates Gulf Coast state officials were satisfied with the federal assistance they had so far received.
"I want to say thank you very much for all that you're doing," Louisiana emergency preparedness deputy director Col. Jeff Smith told Homeland Security and FEMA officials during the call, in which President Bush also participated, according to the transcript obtained by The Associated Press. "I think that at this point in time our coordination is as good as it can be."
Asked by FEMA's Brown if Louisiana had any unmet needs at that point, or if there were anything else the federal government could provide, Smith said: "Mike, no."
Until he was relieved of his onsite duties on Sept. 9, Brown was the top federal officer in the Gulf Coast. But GAO concluded that his authority was unclear, leading to an "incomplete understanding of roles and responsibilities" for other federal agencies.
The report praised the Coast Guard, the Pentagon, the U.S. Postal Service and the National Finance Center for taking a "lean forward" approach to preparing for and responding to Katrina.
Another beady-eyed Clintonista. Great! No wonder this "report" is a one-sided screwup.
Nagin is on right now.
Why didn't they drive them away?
I heard today that Chertoff has said that he WILL respond to this.
I call POS on this report.
I hope so...this is the most ridiculous case of scapegoating I have seen...
I heard that weasel Nagin being questioned by Carl Levin...and he was being "given" the answers that would implicate the Bush Administration in their charges..
I am really STUNNED that this Katrina thing has taken this life of its own...
My goodness, it was a hurricane for goodness sakes...I dare say that if KERRY had been POTUS, it STILL would have hit New Orleans..and the levees STILL would have broken..
CIIW, didn't Federal response teams get to ground zero within the time frame generally prescribed for in the FEMA MOAs?
Ummmm ... Can the Federal Governemtn just come in and take control of a State??
Asked by FEMA's Brown if Louisiana had any unmet needs at that point, or if there were anything else the federal government could provide, Smith said: "Mike, no."
Soooooooooo it's Brown's fault because the said he didn't need more help??
I heard on a newsbreak tonight...that Hillary called today for an "independent commission" to look into Katrina..
My goodness...they have been having these hearings for 3 months...and all they are going to do is railroad the Bush Administration...which is EXACTLY what she wants an "independent commission" to do...so why is that necessary...
This is gonna be enough to get added to the Impeach Bush list...
BTW...did you hear about that group that is having a press conference tomorrow at the National Press Club...to reveal their "findings" that Bush should be impeached...for "crimes against humanity"??
The group...Michael Ratner, Scott Ritter, Janice Karpinski..and some other losers..
As far as I know...but, dang...even common sense tells the dumbest American that there is NO WAY that the FEDERAL government should be at fault for this...sheesh
We kept hearing at the time of the storm...that aid, supplies and other things had to be requested and authorized by the Governor...and she kept wanting to "wait"...
Remember all of those boats and stuff...I KNOW at the time, it was not blamed on the FEDS that they didn't go help...but, I DO REMEMBER that those that did go in were getting shot at...
Where is the blame for the actual citizens of New Orleans??
There is a shot where Blanco is being set up several days ago for a TV interview, and her press secretary is helping her adjust her mic. Theyre having a personal conversation, but the cameraman catches it!! In it, she kinda jokes to her press secretary something like yeah, well I guess I really need to ask for troops, and a couple more things she says. A bit later in hte segment she gets into a semi-argument with Miles OBrien, and hes pointedly asking her exactly WHEN she asked the President for troops.She gets frustrated and says she didnt even know what day it was the, she was confused, but Miles presses her.
DOWNLOAD and view video here.
I don't like Chertoff, haven't from day one and still wish Kerick had gotten the job.
In a related story, the mayor who failed to mobilize busses to get people out and those people who failed to get out with 4 days notice of approach were given a pass for their stupidity.
If Shillary wants a commission I say we get one to do an honest investigation into her days in the Whitehouse and try her and slick Willie for all their illegal dealings once and for all....
Kerick is the reason that Kerick didn't get the job.
I know that and I'm still disappointed because he would have been superior to Chertoff (IMHO)... I think we need someone in Homeland Security with a few rough edges, not an accountant or attorney.
LOL - Tooner appointee, previous experience Arthur Anderson partner, Welfare, Labor, Social Security, graduated from the Kennedy School of government.....a real who's who whose full of himself.
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