From the NY Times:
The Pentagon late Tuesday ordered five Navy ships and eight maritime rescue teams to the Gulf Coast to bolster relief operations as worsening conditions overwhelmed the initial response.Oh where to begin. He's going to BEGIN WORK today? I call that a devastating failure of leadership.
One Navy amphibious assault ship, the Bataan, with six Sea Stallion and Sea Hawk helicopters that could be used for search and rescue missions, was en route from Texas. Four other vessels from Norfolk were expected to sail within 24 hours and take four days to reach the gulf, said Mike Kucharek, a spokesman for the Northern Command.
...
"The biggest challenge is getting enough resources - especially helicopters and small boats - to the area for the rescue work we have to do," said Lt. Gene Maestas, a Coast Guard spokesman in Washington. He said the Coast Guard had scores of small craft with outboard motors, but they were reaching the region at a frustratingly slow pace.
...
Pentagon officials asserted that deployment of thousands of National Guard members from the gulf states to Iraq and Afghanistan had not affected relief efforts. But on Tuesday the two hardest-hit states, Louisiana and Mississippi, which each have more than 3,000 National Guard troops in Iraq, requested military specialists and equipment from other states, ranging from military police and engineers to helicopters and five-ton, high-wheeled trucks that can traverse the flood waters.
President Bush announced Tuesday that he would cut short his extended summer vacation and fly to Washington to begin work on Wednesday with a task force that will coordinate the work of 14 federal agencies involved in the relief effort.
The states have requested equipment that only the military can bring. And it's five days away. What if those ships had been mobilized Sunday night? They would have gotten there on Friday. As currently scheduled, they'll be getting there on Sunday. Two days of further hell that was entirely unnecessary and more people will die as a result.
The Coast Guard has equipment that they want to bring, but can't get into New Orleans. Is there a shortage of heavy transport in the US because the equipment is in Iraq?
It's all too little too late Mr. President. Your administration is an absolute failure.
Tags: Katrina
