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Bush Admin sued for trying to fix levees

It looks like our current 24 hour L'affaire Du'jour is:

"Bush was warned about Katrina Damage".

By way of implication, "If only Bush would have done his job"

You need only consider that for four years before Hurricaine Katrina, Bush did his best to try to limit the potential damage, and was stopped by the very same people now screaming at him for "doing nothing".

From this beautiful article in September 2005 National Review we learn the following :

...snip
"The Bush administration’s flood-control efforts were often relentlessly opposed by environmental groups, and this opposition was frequently echoed by liberal activists and in the press. Bush kept his promise, and his appointees at the Corps of Engineers have stopped the “spring rise” plan that concerned so many about flooding. Environmentalists launched a barrage of criticism and a series of lawsuits...

"...Ironically, among those criticizing Bush for his actions to prevent flooding of the Missouri River was the ever-present anti-Bush environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He chastised Bush in 2004 for “managing the flow of the Missouri River.” If, before Katrina, Bush had proceeded full-speed ahead and fortified the levees of the Mississippi for a Category 5 hurricane, Kennedy and others of his ilk would very likely have criticized Bush for trying to manage the natural flow of the Mississippi. And it’s a good bet that many of the lefty bloggers now critical of Bush for not reinforcing the levees would have cited Bush’s levee fortification as another way he was despoiling the natural environment.

I wholehardily agree with that assessment.

From what I saw during Katrina, it appeared to me that the assets and organizations that the Executive Branch of the Federal Government was responsible for, actually went into action as soon as possible.

I also saw a State and City Government that was, to put it mildly negligent, from not ordering National Guard into action ( Governors do that, not the President) to not having even the most basic plans for how to react to an emergency at any level, much less a major catastrophe. Sunken School Buses? Cops looting or walking off the job altogether? Is that a Bush thing? I dont think so...

Even today, the City of New Orleans is still planning on how to rebuild those parts of the city that simply cannot be protected. This is beyond irresponsible, but its 'par for the course' in Louisiana.

And yet - "It's Bush fault".

If Bush were half the dictator that they say he is, Bush would lock this pack of frauds and charlatans up in about 30 seconds. Instead, he respects their authority and positions, and gets screwed for it.

Oh well, "Rank has its priveleges" I suppose...

What I learned from Katrina and the half a dozen other Hurricanes last year is that there is nothing that FEMA can do that if FEMA's funding and mission were given instead to the US Coast Guard, that the Coast Guard could instead deliver, faster, better, cheaper and with more accountability than FEMA ever hoped it could.

So in that spirit, let's consider this idea.

Let's give the US Coast Guard:

The USS Constellation,
The USS Kitty Hawk
and the USS John F. Kennedy

( all non nuclear Carriers, that are either mothballed or soon to be ) and create three maritime "Emergency Response Task Forces" with the current Navy hospital ships as their core. Place one task force on each coast - Pacific - Atlantic and Gulf.

What you get is an organization that can respond anywhere in the hemisphere in 72 hours with enough organization and capability to make a big difference. An organization that is not Department of Defense, but more correctly, Department of Homeland Security. Not quite military, but not fully civilian either, and reports to the President directly via a cabinet level position. No need to worry about lines of authority over State Govenors. Govenors and National Guards can work with the Coast Guard, or be seconded to it directly as the Emergency unfolds. Whats important is that during those crucial first hours, there is a permanent place and organization that can be coordinating efforts while the logistics train catches up.

FEMA failed because it is built like a 6 fingered glove and it fit about as well as a 6 fingered glove to its actual mission.

On the other hand, The US Coast Guard - Works.

Not only would this greatly improve our response time in large scale emergencies, there is also the more important issue of our national defense. With the implementation of "Maritime Emergency Response Task Forces" our Navy and its regular mission and resources would not have to compete for attention with natural disasters.

Katrina showed us how a ship like the USS Iwo Jima can serve as a mobile emergency headquarters as well as a hospital and a landing field. My concern isnt that how well it worked - it worked great!, it's that ships like the USS Iwo Jima actually have another job right now, and I'd rather not distract them from it.

I wonder how much smuggling in the Carribean would be impacted by the permanent presence of a US Coast Guard Carrier Task Force.

Posted @ March 01, 2006 10:24 PM | Current Affairs

Posted by: R. Raymond at March 2, 2006 12:37 AM

Posted by: RPD at March 2, 2006 02:14 PM

Posted by: JD at March 6, 2006 05:12 PM

Posted by: Tim at March 7, 2006 05:47 PM