-V-
09/05/05, 02:55 pm
As we move into the second week of the hurricane Katrina rescue mission this country and the world is still wondering how the richest most powerful nation could pull of a massive operation of "Shock & Awe" on the other side of the world and fail so miserably in reacting to a disaster in its own backyard.
The world saw the footage of huge tanks and planes and thousands of US soldiers kicking in doors in Iraq despite the fact that behind many of those doors people were fighting back. In contrast, here in New Orleans many of our own citizens waited for days in attics or on rooftops for help that never came or came too late. Some are still waiting... The less fortunate are floating under 6 feet of water rather than buried under 6 feet of earth.
Why? Mainly because mother nature is unpredictable. But partly because what was predictable and inevitable for New Orleans, was not prepared for. The hurricane was unstoppable, but the cracked levies that dealt the cruelest blow were supposed to have been reinforced. And the Homeland Security that was put together to respond to this kind of catastrophe, whether initiated by terrorists or nature, responded too little too late. When the troops did finally arrive, they were bearing automatic weapons to enforce the Presidents call for "zero tolerance" regarding those taking advantage of the situation by looting, instead of understanding that these are the very people who even before this week were among the most disadvantaged in the nation.
But that is what happens when the American voters and the media don't punish those responsible for past blunders, such as ignoring pre-warnings of 9/11 and the Iraq war debacle. And so it was this same deceptive and criminally negligent President who appointed his inexperienced friends to head the organizations responsible for responding to homeland emergencies. Still you have to wonder how much swifter the reaction would have been if rather than striking the poor Black communities of New Orleans, Katrina threatened the key battleground state of Florida or the Crawford ranch in Texas.
So because of America's lack of demanding accountability in the past all we are left with now in Katrina's wake is more "shock and awe".
Americans have one more shot at injecting justice into our government offices in the midterm elections before more damage is done by this administration. While Republican's scoff at the notion of pointing the finger yet again in the direction of George W. Bush for another one of America's problems, the sad truth is that once again, George W. Bush has earned it.
The world saw the footage of huge tanks and planes and thousands of US soldiers kicking in doors in Iraq despite the fact that behind many of those doors people were fighting back. In contrast, here in New Orleans many of our own citizens waited for days in attics or on rooftops for help that never came or came too late. Some are still waiting... The less fortunate are floating under 6 feet of water rather than buried under 6 feet of earth.
Why? Mainly because mother nature is unpredictable. But partly because what was predictable and inevitable for New Orleans, was not prepared for. The hurricane was unstoppable, but the cracked levies that dealt the cruelest blow were supposed to have been reinforced. And the Homeland Security that was put together to respond to this kind of catastrophe, whether initiated by terrorists or nature, responded too little too late. When the troops did finally arrive, they were bearing automatic weapons to enforce the Presidents call for "zero tolerance" regarding those taking advantage of the situation by looting, instead of understanding that these are the very people who even before this week were among the most disadvantaged in the nation.
But that is what happens when the American voters and the media don't punish those responsible for past blunders, such as ignoring pre-warnings of 9/11 and the Iraq war debacle. And so it was this same deceptive and criminally negligent President who appointed his inexperienced friends to head the organizations responsible for responding to homeland emergencies. Still you have to wonder how much swifter the reaction would have been if rather than striking the poor Black communities of New Orleans, Katrina threatened the key battleground state of Florida or the Crawford ranch in Texas.
So because of America's lack of demanding accountability in the past all we are left with now in Katrina's wake is more "shock and awe".
Americans have one more shot at injecting justice into our government offices in the midterm elections before more damage is done by this administration. While Republican's scoff at the notion of pointing the finger yet again in the direction of George W. Bush for another one of America's problems, the sad truth is that once again, George W. Bush has earned it.