William A. Alexander – 9/11/05

This page was last updated on September 17, 2005.

Incompetence everywhere; William A. Alexander; Beaver County Times; September 11, 2005.

While describing what he sees as federal government incompetence, you’ll note he doesn’t even mention the local and state governments. He seems completely oblivious to the fact that Democrats have controlled Louisiana and New Orleans since forever. I take that back. Mr. Alexander really knows who’s responsible and is doing his part to shield them.

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“Before this New Orleans debacle, I thought the Pittsburgh water main break was the poster child for government incompetence.”

[RWC] I doubt this since Mr. Alexander does almost nothing in his letters except bash Republicans, and Democrats run Pittsburgh.

“Shrub, Cheney, Rummy and Condi did not come off vacation during the NOLA tragedy until public outcry forced them.”

[RWC] What a crock. A “vacation” for administration officials at this level simply means they are working from somewhere other than Washington, DC. That’s true for all administrations.

“They knew days before it landed that Katrina, a category 4/5 hurricane, was going to hit the Gulf Coast, and the last two days near New Orleans.”

[RWC] Are federal officials supposed to cut short “vacations” every time a hurricane presents a threat to the U.S.? What about winter snowstorms?

“They knew the levees and walls would be breached by a category 4 hurricane. Studies and exercises completed before and after 9/11 indicated 100,000 people in NOLA would be trapped. Yet no planning was done to save them!”

[RWC] The hurricane didn’t breach the levees. The levees failed after the hurricane passed. Also, the areas that failed were deemed “completed construction” by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Mr. Alexander needs to do his research. New Orleans had a plan; they chose not to implement it.

“We watched the suffering, degradation, destruction, lawlessness and death day after day while the administration did little. Bush appointed Michael Brown FEMA director.”

[RWC] As you’ll read below, you’ll learn the allegation that the feds did little is bogus. As we’re now learning, the local and state governments delayed and in some cases obstructed federal action.

“Brown’s experience prior to FEMA was running horse shows. In multiple interviews on Sept. 1, Brown said those at the Dome and Convention Center had received food and water twice a day.”

[RWC] Mr. Alexander seems to forget Mr. Brown ran FEMA during last year’s hurricane season when four hurricanes hit in short order. As I recall, there were no significant complaints about FEMA at the time. I’m not defending Mr. Brown because I don’t have all the facts, and neither does Mr. Alexander.

“Wolf Blitzer on CNN stated the people at the convention center were not receiving food or water. Brown corrected himself.

“Bush’s spinners have continued their misinformation. They claim no one knew about people at the Convention Center until Sept. 1. Reporters had it on the tube late on Aug. 30.”

[RWC] Again Mr. Alexander needs to do his research. We now know why Mr. Brown was confused. We learned last week the Red Cross attempted to deliver food, water, hygiene supplies, et cetera to the Superdome and the Convention Center, but the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security (not affiliated with the federal DHS) denied the Red Cross access. The Louisiana DHS said it didn’t want to make the Superdome and the Convention Centers “magnets” for evacuees. This is only one example of FEMA getting bashed for the actions of local and state government.

“The excuse of Lt. Gen. Honore, the National Guard spokesmen, is that it was a long trip to get there. Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are not large states.”

[RWC] Lt. Gen. Russel Honore is not “the National Guard spokesmen [sic].” Gen. Honore is commander of the 1^st Army, based outside of Atlanta. He was also appointed commander of Joint Task Force Katrina on Wednesday, August 31^st.

“You can drive from any guard post in these states to the coast in six hours, not five days.”

[RWC] It’s the responsibility of the state governors to call up the National Guard. The President can call up the NG in only two cases. If the President federalizes the NG and calls them up, they cannot take part in law enforcement activities. To take part in law enforcement, President Bush would have had to invoke the Insurrection Act. Though there was looting, there’s no way you could classify what happened in New Orleans as an insurrection. Can you imagine the letter we’d see from Mr. Alexander if President Bush invoked either of these options given that both Louisiana Gov. Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Nagin are Democrats and members of so-called “protected groups?” Gov. Blanco is a woman and Mayor Nagin is black.

Other than a habit of ignoring the facts, I’m not sure why Mr. Alexander believes it took five days for the NG to show up. On August 30^th, the day after Katrina hit, the National Guard claims “an estimated 7,500 National Guard troops from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi were on duty today [August 30^th], supporting civil authorities, distributing generators, providing medical care, and setting up shelters for displaced residents.” For reference, the levees broke overnight on August 29^th/30^th. Further, “98,000 Guard troops from 12 states in or near the hurricane-stricken region are available to immediately support emergency operations, she [Air Force Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a DoD spokeswoman] said. Nationwide, an estimated 337,000 Guard troops are available to be deployed to states impacted by the hurricane.”

“The administration showed up after five days for photo ops and mutual congratulations. Next I expect to see Santorum and Hart posing for a photo opportunity with our 911th Refueling Wing.”

[RWC] Gee, I missed the “mutual congratulations.” If I recall correctly, President Bush repeatedly said the results were not acceptable. Regarding so-called “photo ops,” President Bush can’t win. When he appeared quickly after last year’s hurricanes, the left bashed him. This year when he waited for the “OK” from the governors, the left still bashed him.