Federal Inaction Over Katrina: Shellshock or Strategy?, page 1

Everyone from the average Joe to the President seems to be in agreement that the Federal government and FEMA's response to the category 5 strength Hurricane Katrina was inadequate and unacceptable. How could this be possible for such an obvious threat of disaster? Why would any one want to let this happen? Discussing this possibilty is not an afront to the suffering people are going through in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Not exploring this possibility would be the true injustice.

Prior Warning:

As early as 2001, a hurricane of atleast category 3 strength hitting New Orleans was claimed by FEMA to be in the top 3 potential disasters to befall the United States in the near future.

Public Health Impacts of Hurricanes
and Major Floods

The initial pilot study undertaken by the CSPHIH has been to assess, communicate and mitigate the potential public health risks of a hurricane or major flood striking the greater New Orleans metropolitan area.

Categorized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as one of the top three “likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country,” a major hurricane striking the city of New Orleans has been an impending disaster on FEMA's radar since at least 2001 (1).

Center for the Study of Public Health Impacts of Hurricanes

The other two on the list were a major earthquake hitting San Francisco and prophetically a terrorist attack on New York city.

Woeful preparedness:

Given the prior knowledge FEMA held which said a catastrophe such as Katrina was only a matter of time in coming, why was the federal government's response to cut funding to the New Orleans levees by 44%? Why did the federal government allow the destruction of marshland that was currently being protected and restored to insulate New Orleans from the deadly storm surge following hurricanes?

Budget Cuts and Other Recklessness

Dismal Federal Response:

After the predicted top 3 most likely disaster to befall America actually occured it then took almost 5 days before any large coordinated relief effort was mounted. President Bush described the federal governments response to Katrina as "not acceptable"

Bush Says U.S. Hurricane Relief Inadequate as Criticism Mounts

Latest Federal Response:

To quell the glaringly predictable loss of law and order that spread across New Orleans, a city with the highest murder rate in the country, they suspend posse comitatus and allow active duty soldiers to enforce law and order on the streets.

ATSNN: NEWS: Bush Suspends Posse Comitatus, Active Military Pour into New Orleans

New Orleans Strategic Importance:

New Orleans is the 4th largest port in the World. It handles roughly 25% of the Oil that is produced by the United States in the Gulf. Its an integral part of the United States economy that was culpably allowed to descend into anarchy.

Louisiana pipelines out of action

So what?:

So now we have the United States military in control of a city that controls 25% of the oil that flows into the United States.

Will the Federal government force some oil companies out of the area? Who will stop them? Who could stop them?

Will oil companies contracts be renewed or defered as a matter of national security? The Federal Government now has control of the situation which most believe with take years to rectify.

Who will be the next corporation to profit from the Gulf through newly destroyed New Orleans? Will it be Unocal?

Who will now be awarded the contract to rebuild New Orleans infrastructure? Will it be Haliburton?

At the very least the Federal government's prior knowledge of what an even category 3 hurricane would do to New Orleans shows criminal negligence. At the most they allowed it to occur to further line the pockets of a select cabal of well connected corporations. It happend in Iraq, it happend after 9/11. Why should this be any exception?

[edit on 3/9/05 by subz]

[edit on 10-9-2005 by DJDOHBOY]