NEWS: AP Video...Bush warned 4 days ahead of Katrina

The Associated Press has released a video of a telecast confrence between Chertoff, Brown and Bush among others done 4 days before Katrina hit fully showing Brown warning both Bush and Chertoff about the very things that happened and Bush didn't ask a single question.



Once again Bush and company are shown to be complusive liars and evaders of responsiblity. People died because of their inaction. Forget Iraq, his behaviour in regards to Katrina warrent his removal from office...only problem is then Cheney would become president.

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nice post But do you think people would have listened to him, If i rember right on any news stations that i saw when asked are you going to leave, a majority of people said i 've been through many hurricanes and im not worried. I dont think any warning would have change their minds. just my opinion.

I have to say most people knew ahead of time, I mean years, even for decades that the levees were vulnerable. As long as I can remember the Weather Channel has had specials on what cities were most at risk and NewOrleans has always been number one. Anyone who lived in NewOrleans should have known how vulnerable they were, they are below sea level for heaven's sake. 2004 should have been a wake up call for everyone living in hurricane prone areas, Ivan made landfall about 100miles to the east with a massive surge, that was a very close call for New Orleans and again it should have been a wake up call, unfortunatly I believe the real problem has been too many misses and the NO people figured Katrina would be no different.

I do not blame the goverment, or the President, or FEMA at all for this. It is up to the individual to know the risks of their area and be prepared when a disaster hits. Ignorance was the problem.

thesaneone & jrod, you're both missing the point here. It's not about the victims of the hurricane and what they did or did not do. The point is to show that Bush, Chertoff and others were informed and aware of the serious nature of Hurrican Katrina hitting the U.S. before the event happened leaving no excuses for thier lack of response.

They've been claiming that their lack of timely response both before and after the event came from lack of communication and unpredicted outcomes. This video proves that not only was there full communication but also multiple expert testimony by scientific advisors as to the severe nature of the storm itself as well as the dangers from the levee being too weak.

What makes it even worse still is the fact that when this communication was taking place between FEMA and Bush/Chertoff, their response was to say "We are fully prepared." Obviously, they weren't fully prepared for anything, including what to do before it hit to avoid damage nor what to do after it hit to stabilize the area.

It's important to focus on the issue here, which is the fact that "They Lied to Cover Up Their Actions". Be it a cover-up of "Their Incompetence to Respond Properly" or "Their Intentional Non-Action in Responding Properly" makes little difference except to show the degree to which these people should be charged. In either case it's still a case of Lying by our elected officials in order to cover-up the truth of what happened. It's bad enough this country has lost innocent lives and a historical city but to also fail in correcting the situation by letting those responsible lie their way out is just discusting and pathetic on behalf of every single member of this nation.

[edit on 1-3-2006 by mOjOm]

[edit on 1-3-2006 by mOjOm]

Excellent post, jrod. The condition of the levees has been known for quite a few years.

I can't believe that we're still discussing the responsibility of BushCo in response to Katrina. The initial response, and the responsibility for asking the feds to intervene, must come from the state. Sovereignty is the issue. The feds just can't waltz into a state and take over; there must be a protocol followed. In this case, Blanco and Nagin dropped the ball.

[edit on 2-3-2006 by jsobecky]

Originally posted by mOjOm
thesaneone & jrod, you're both missing the point here. It's not about the victims of the hurricane and what they did or did not do. The point is to show that Bush, Chertoff and others were informed and aware of the serious nature of Hurrican Katrina hitting the U.S. before the event happened leaving no excuses for thier lack of response.

They've been claiming that their lack of timely response both before and after the event came from lack of communication and unpredicted outcomes. This video proves that not only was there full communication but also multiple expert testimony by scientific advisors as to the severe nature of the storm itself as well as the dangers from the levee being too weak.

What makes it even worse still is the fact that when this communication was taking place between FEMA and Bush/Chertoff, their response was to say "We are fully prepared." Obviously, they weren't fully prepared for anything, including what to do before it hit to avoid damage nor what to do after it hit to stabilize the area.

It's important to focus on the issue here, which is the fact that "They Lied to Cover Up Their Actions". Be it a cover-up of "Their Incompetence to Respond Properly" or "Their Intentional Non-Action in Responding Properly" makes little difference except to show the degree to which these people should be charged. In either case it's still a case of Lying by our elected officials in order to cover-up the truth of what happened. It's bad enough this country has lost innocent lives and a historical city but to also fail in correcting the situation by letting those responsible lie their way out is just discusting and pathetic on behalf of every single member of this nation.

[edit on 1-3-2006 by mOjOm]

[edit on 1-3-2006 by mOjOm]

thank you M0j0m that is indeed the whole point. If they can blame the victims and evade responsiblity they will. There is no accounting for what average people will do but there is (or should be) accounting for what the government and especially the federal government does of doesn't do...after all the welfare of ALL the people of our country is its mandate.

Bush didn't ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."

If the President of the United States, tells you this.... wouldn't that be taken with some sort of legitity. You can blame the local officials, IMO they are Guilty as Charged, but this does not absolve the President of his in-actions.

Wasn't there some contraversey over whether or not the President & Brown had actually met before Katrina hit?

(although the word 'legitity' may not be a word according to spell check, I think it should be )

[edit on 2-3-2006 by Grailkeeper]

I still think if it had been the Hampton's, well it would have been different.

Mayor Nagin is fully at fault. The storm passed, and people were back in the streets. Itwas the day after the storm when the levees broke, not during the storm. Peoples shoulders were down thinking the worst was over, and then the levees started to fail.

At that point, the Mayor of NO should have made sure everyone was deployed and ready, he had already basically said 'we made it through ok'. It is his responsibilty, not that of the president to make sure that his town is prepared. The federal government steps in when it is a natural disaster, and will go in when they are not shot at.

Of course Bush knew about it prior, it was a Cat 5 storm. I am sure there was talk that NO may flood, it was also all over the news media, so I guess they are also guilty, as well as every engineer for the breaks in the levees.

I am sickened also that they had Mardi gras. How many people were displaced, yet they find the money to throw a party. I am sure with the cost of prepartaion, clean up and security you could have built a few tenaments or apartments for some of the poor people Mayor Nagin said bush forgot. Seems to me that Mayor Nagin has forgotten the people of New Orleans too.

With all the money that was Raised and donated or spent, if there is a party of that magnitude, they are in need of nothing. Tradition or not, they felt OK to give federal funds to the citizens that was used for everything from groceries to tattoos to paying traffic fines.

Why was the money spent on Mardi gras not used to rebuild the levees? Hurricane season is not far away.

esdad, I can see you're in a lynching mood, but I guess it's only fitting since the opposing partisans are trying to do it to 'your' guy. Anyway...

I am sickened also that they had Mardi gras. How many people were displaced, yet they find the money to throw a party. I am sure with the cost of prepartaion, clean up and security you could have built a few tenaments or apartments for some of the poor people Mayor Nagin said bush forgot. Seems to me that Mayor Nagin has forgotten the people of New Orleans too.

Mardi Gras costs a small fraction of what it brings in. C'mon dude, you're really reaching. If they can afford to regain some small sense of normalcy and project an image of readiness for tourist dollars, they don't deserve federal disaster aid to rebuild the other areas of the city that didn't fare quite so well as the French quarter? Seriously, that's not right-minded, that's emotional.

With all the money that was Raised and donated or spent, if there is a party of that magnitude, they are in need of nothing. Tradition or not, they felt OK to give federal funds to the citizens that was used for everything from groceries to tattoos to paying traffic fines.

What? They are in need of EVERYTHING. Mardi Gras this year was a spectre of its former self. What's that bit about feeling okay to give federal funds to citizens for tattoos? Could you slow down and clarify for me?

I am not defending Bush, I am trying to put the blame where it belongs.

Lynching, nice play on words, but this has nothing to do with race. If he was mayor of Alabama maybe, but they are pretty liberal in NO.

The city of NO felt it OK for the us, taxpayers, to give pay for those 2000 debit cards that were used for many things other than hurricane relief such as tattoos and other party items, but now wants to blame the federal government.

I feel that they should be doing more for the 500,000 citizens who were displaced, the 200,000 living in FEMA housing and returing electricity to more than 1/3 of the city.

Why not use MArdi gras as a "Help rebuild our levees" celebration. If Nagin had made this the case and attmepted to raise money not just party, he may have even gotten more funds or attention from people or media who would see him as a mayor wanting to rebuild, not lay blame.

One missed Mardi Gras would not have destroyed NO, but not making sure the levees are fixed before next Hurricane season is.

I guess I am seeing deeper into this. It is not that who was told what nor who didn't do what nor who should have left. It's that the comminuication was made, and are now in the public, but the Administration is trying to play down those communications. It's no different than how Iraq's gov and Iraq's Clerics are warning of an impending Civil War, but Bush says there isn't going to be any Civil War - as if his saying this will change what is happening. "Don't read into it" he said [of the hurricaene warnings] - what's to read into - there either was or was not these communications.

It's not about the blame, to me, it's about the attempts of blatant downplay of what is coming into public light.

NN

I can't believe that we're still discussing the responsibility of BushCo in response to Katrina. The initial response, and the responsibility for asking the feds to intervene, must come from the state. Sovereignty is the issue. The feds just can't waltz into a state and take over; there must be a protocol followed. In this case, Blanco and Nagin dropped the ball.

Wait, I'm going to quote that again to make sure people see it.
It's EXACTLY RIGHT.

I can't believe that we're still discussing the responsibility of BushCo in response to Katrina. The initial response, and the responsibility for asking the feds to intervene, must come from the state. Sovereignty is the issue. The feds just can't waltz into a state and take over; there must be a protocol followed. In this case, Blanco and Nagin dropped the ball.

That and the fact that because of the nature of the hurricane, federal aid actually came FASTER than previous notable hurricanes such as Andrew and Hugo, I too am puzzled as to why people still aren't putting the blame where it really belongs.


It's funny really.

"State's rights!" "Federal government is too big!" "Federal government sucks!" "Fed. gov go away, mind your business!"

After something happens: "Where's the federal government?" "Why didn't you help us quick enough?"

Originally posted by jsobecky
The condition of the levees has been known for quite a few years.
Blanco and Nagin dropped the ball.

You have voted jsobecky for the Way Above Top Secret award.
You have used all of your votes for this month.

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, knew the levees couldn't hold
up to a cat 3 let alone anything bigger. It didn't take a magic
one time meeting a few days before a major hurricane for people
to find that out. The levees were poorly built, the New Orleans
local government was corrupt, the Gov. of Louisianna was
incompetant.

If you want to blame someone ... blame the idiots who built a
city in a below sea level bowl, next to the ocean, in a part of
the country where major hurricanes frequent. Then blame
the yahoos who live there fully knowing that at some point they
will get wiped out.

It's not the job of my tax money to bail out the corrupt and
bigotted mayor of New Orleans, the incompetant Gov. of
Louisianna, or the people who decided to live there fully
knowing that they were living on borrowed time below sea
level - next to an ocean full of hurricanes - with a levee
system that was shoddy.

In 1975 the Corps of Engineers proposed a 100% fix for the levies in NO. It was stopped by an environmental group and has been in court ever since.

Blame the tree huggers for thsi one!

The details of official resposibility are irrelevant. Bush et al had the power and moral responsibility to help people in the aftermath of the hurricane, yet they sat on their hands. Very christian.

Brown specifically warned about the superbowl. Children were murdered as they were raped in the toilets.

Impeachment isn't strong enough for Bush. For once I am in favour of capital punishment.

[edit on 2-3-2006 by rizla]

Originally posted by rizla
The details of official resposibility are irrelevant. Bush et al had the power and moral responsibility to help people in the aftermath of the hurricane, yet they sat on their hands. Very christian.

Brown specifically warned about the superbowl. Children were murdered as they were raped in the toilets.

Impeachment isn't strong enough for Bush. For once I am in favour of capital punishment.

[edit on 2-3-2006 by rizla]

So please tell me just exactly WHO evacuated the area? Send in food? Have you ever evacuated an area the size of ENGLAND?

be careful your HATE is showing

I find it interesting how the Bush apologists conveniently avoid the fact that Bush LIED!

Blame whomever you want about the response...or lack thereof... What our president says about his foreknoweldge simply wasn't true...

It's encouraging to see so many give him a pass on that.

Originally posted by rizla
The details of official resposibility are irrelevant.

Official responsibility is very relevant.

Brown specifically warned about the superbowl.

And frankly so were the people that went there. They were
told it was a 'refuge of last resort'. That they should NOT go
there unless there was absolutely no way they could get out
of the city. It wasn't made to withstand the winds that it did.
It's a miracle that it stood. And yet people went there, expecting
to be given free food for days upon days, and to have free
medical treatment for days and days. The government was
VERY clear about the superbowl. And yet many people got lazy
and went there anyways expecting to be waited on in the middle
of a major catastrophe. It was supposed to be a place of last
resort for the few who just couldn't get out. Instead, it was
abused and used as an excuse. That ... AND the Mayor and
the Gov. didn't have enough troops stationed there. They
were not expecting the masses of people to stay behind
and they were not expecting the criminal behavior of those
who shot at troops and rescue workers. They get some of
the blame as well.

flyersfan, you're being selfish. The federal government is obligated to help every citizen, including the stupid ones. If this country started discriminating against stupid people, I'd go along with it, but in my heart of hearts I'd know that it was a fundamental departure from the ideals on which this country was ostensibly (but not actually) founded.

Slavery and genocide notwithstanding...

thermopolis, most of the people were evacuated by local authorities in the run-up to the event. People were urged for DAYS to leave the city by any means possible. Those who stayed behind were primarily those without the means to leave.

Now, Louisiana is one of the poorest states (actually the poorest, I think), and they didn't have enough resources to deal with a disaster of this magnitude. Yes, Blanco is a p.o.s., but that doesn't mean FEMA couldn't swoop in and save people from their rooftops! Look at what the Louisiana Fish and Game guys did, they didn't wait for the go ahead, they just used all the resources at their disposal to save as many people as possible.

Nobody would have faulted them, nobody decent anyway. FEMA didn't though, they sat on their thumb and watched as people drowned. They wasted more resources than they delivered, and they squandered a bunch of money for the purpose of appearing to do something. They pulled rescuers away from the front lines because of exagerated media reports of crime and rioting, and then they started shuffling people around the country. They lost a few thousand people I think, in the course of the shuffling, many of them children.

Everyone involved was more concerned about covering their own butt than they were about helping people. I don't like Blanco, and I don't like Nagin, but that doesn't mean Bush and Brown and Chertoff and all these other idiots get a free pass.

What about all the houses that FEMA has left to rot in Arkansas fields? There are more than 10 thousand manufactured homes, and meanwhile people are protesting outside Texas hotels because FEMA is evicting them out onto the street!

What gives?

Yes, the taxpayer is getting royally screwed on this deal, but what's new? Look at how the corporate scumbags are taking advantage of the situation, is that what America stands for now? I think so, I really do...

rizla, Bush didn't rape any children in NOLA, that I'm aware of anyway. The people responsible for those acts (which were few in number and shockingly over-reported) are clearly the ones who perpetrated them, and the parents who left their children unsupervised, and the people themselves for taking shelter in the dome. (I wouldn't have even considered it for a moment, if I had lived in the area during the disaster, no way, no how)