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A Disastrous Idea

By TChris, Section Huricanes Katrina and Rita
Posted on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 05:02:07 PM EST
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by TChris

Donald Rumsfeld is an expert at disaster creation. Why would the president want to put him in charge of disaster relief?

A White House assessment of the sluggish federal reaction to Hurricane Katrina concludes the Pentagon should oversee future catastrophe responses but does not recommend that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff be fired, officials said Wednesday. ... [T]he document - which a congressional aide said approaches 200 pages - proposes sweeping changes to federal response plans. These include making the military the lead agency to coordinate immediate relief when state and local resources are overwhelmed, one official said.

FEMA would continue to handle lesser disasters, thus dividing disaster management into two competing turfs. Can you imagine Rumsfeld and Chertoff arguing with each other -- as victims drown -- about which agency should be in charge of the latest hurricane response?

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    • A Disastrous Idea | 5 comments (5 topical)
    Re: A Disastrous Idea (none / 0) (#1)
    by wishful on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 06:25:59 PM EST
    Can you say, "rescinding the Posse Comitatus Act", or just, "military coup"? When do we begin to take back our country from these imposters?

    Re: A Disastrous Idea (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 10:23:48 PM EST
    (Wishful sorta beat me to it.) The whole point of this plan is to wait for the right catastrophe or emrgency, then declare martial law, and install a what amounts to dictatorship. I kid you not. They made a stab at it during Katrina, but the governor of LA stopped them. What would be the "right" emergency? Duh. The first incidents of Avian flu in these United States. (Remember the tralk about using troops to quarantine entire cities?)

    Re: A Disastrous Idea (none / 0) (#3)
    by kdog on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 06:24:12 AM EST
    If Rumsfeld runs disaster relief like he runs a war, he'll send 10 bottle of water to a disaster when they need 10,000.

    Re: A Disastrous Idea (none / 0) (#4)
    by scarshapedstar on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 08:25:15 AM EST
    Somehow, I feel less safe.

    Re: A Disastrous Idea (none / 0) (#5)
    by Peaches on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 01:20:01 PM EST
    The whole point of this plan is to wait for the right catastrophe or emrgency, then declare martial law, and install a what amounts to dictatorship. I kid you not. They made a stab at it during Katrina, but the governor of LA stopped them.
    Listen! We can lay all this on the plate of the neocons, but Eisenhower warned us a long time ago about the dangers of a "military industrial complex." When you devote as many resources and financing to National Defense and cutting social programs is on the agenda of both democrats and Republicans, then this is what you are going to get. The fact is, the military might be the most capable of responding to disasters, because it is the only program we are adequately funding. To put it bluntly, it (the military) is the only thing we are good at. The scary part is how powerless it seems we are of doing anything about it.

    A Disastrous Idea | 5 comments (5 topical)