Tape: Bush, Chertoff Warned Before Katrina

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

By MARGARET EBRAHIM and JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writers 1 hour, 35 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage.

Bush didn't ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."

The footage — along with seven days of transcripts of briefings obtained by The Associated Press — show in excruciating detail that while federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, they were fatally slow to realize they had not mustered enough resources to deal with the unprecedented disaster.

Linked by secure video, Bush's confidence on Aug. 28 starkly contrasts with the dire warnings his disaster chief and a cacophony of federal, state and local officials provided during the four days before the storm.

Full story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060301/.../katrina_video

[Spider]

I saw the Video @ http://www.crooksandliars.com
Man Bush is full of shít , but guys like DBruleu will keep on blowing Bush ......

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by §Pide®

Man Bush is full of shít , but guys like DBruleu will keep on blowing Bush ......

It's creepy to watch, isn't it?

Reality and/or the facts never intrude on his perceptions of Bush.

Even some of the hardcore bush blowers are off the bandwagon, but DBruleU still comes in here on his high horse talking yang like Bush is at 80% or something.

Talk about living in a permanent state of denial and delusion.

[Spider]

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

It's creepy to watch, isn't it?

Reality and/or the facts never intrude on his perceptions of Bush.

Even some of the hardcore bush blowers are off the bandwagon, but DBruleU still comes in here on his high horse talking yang like Bush is at 80% or something.

Talk about living in a permanent state of denial and delusion.

well Dbruleu is right at home ......he does have problem with reality ..... might as well let him stay in LALA land .........

[Rigs11]

unfackingbelievable. I Want to see anyone on this board try and come and defend that POS. How many people have died now because of pure incompetence? Let's see.... the 2500 soldiers, the 30,000 iraqis, and the victims of katrina. Impeach that dumbass!!

[Garcia Bronco]

What would you guys done different about Katrina?

[Rigs11]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

What would you guys done different about Katrina?

Heeded warnings.Supplied Louisiana with the 500 million it had asked for for flood mitigation projects instead of only 250 million. This would have allowed Louisiana to repair the levees. Evacuation preparedness.National guard ready to be deployed including rescue teams. High presence of police at the dome. Supplies ready to be airlifted into the dome.

[RunByDesign]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

What would you guys done different about Katrina?

Not ****ing lie about what I knew, for one.

Same **** Rice tried to pull on the 9-11 commission..."we had no idea that they would fly planes into the builiding.."

Alas, that is the cornerstone of the Bush methodology.

[Garcia Bronco]

Originally Posted by Rigs11

Heeded warnings.Supplied Louisiana with the 500 million it had asked for for flood mitigation projects instead of only 250 million. This would have allowed Louisiana to repair the levees. Evacuation preparedness.National guard ready to be deployed including rescue teams. High presence of police at the dome. Supplies ready to be airlifted into the dome.

For one....500 million wouldn't have fixed the levees...they're rebuilding them now...better with more metal slats and with T-walls instead of I-walls...it's still designed to only with-stand a catergory 3 hurricane. They did have teams ready to go...the scope of it was just to big with the resources...remember the Hurricane went from a 1 to a 4 inside of two days. They did have police at the dome...but the police left to protect their own families. You can blame the government for many things...but you can't pin this one on anybody. It was the biggest natural disaster in our history...I just don't think people understand the scope of it.

[clarker]

Originally Posted by Rigs11

Heeded warnings.Supplied Louisiana with the 500 million it had asked for for flood mitigation projects instead of only 250 million. This would have allowed Louisiana to repair the levees. Evacuation preparedness.National guard ready to be deployed including rescue teams. High presence of police at the dome. Supplies ready to be airlifted into the dome.

At best Bush can claim that they didn't know if the Levees would break. But He can't say that he wasn't warned that they might. He got caught on that. Bush f.cked up big time on this, but he was not the only one. Second there were many resources that the state and local government did not use. For instance on Hardball right after the hurricane, they reported that more than 300 school buses, that could have been used to move people out were left parked and then flooded making them useless.

BTW it is the Governor of Louisiana who has to make the call on to deploy the National Guard. Each state's Governor is the commander in Chief of that states Guard units. So if they were not called in time it is the Governor's fault.

[Spider]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

What would you guys done different about Katrina?

Gave New Orleans emergency money for flood control , supplys etc ... if the Floods wouldnt have happened , then the money for the flood control would have came out of next years budget ....Here is the thing , plenty of blame to go around from the mayor all the way up to the president , the difference is only Bush has been caught lying .... but then if were in charge we wouldnt be in Iraq , then I could have dispatched enough guardsmen to keep control ...

[Play2win]

I love people who try to make all kinds of excuses for BUSH.

Part of the job of the President is to take the responsibilities...

even if they're not you actions, you are still responsible for this country...

[baja]

Originally Posted by Play2Win

I love people who try to make all kinds of excuses for BUSH.

Part of the job of the President is to take the responsibilities...

even if they're not you actions, you are still responsible for this country...

In the Bush administration the buck stops over there somewhere.

[clarker]

Originally Posted by Play2Win

I love people who try to make all kinds of excuses for BUSH.

Part of the job of the President is to take the responsibilities...

even if they're not you actions, you are still responsible for this country...

Bush has to take responsibilities for sure. And he has a lot answer for the federal government's slow response to Katrina.

The state and local officals have to take responsibility as well and they are getting off the hook because Bush f.cked up. I don't think that is right either.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by clarker

The state and local officals have to take responsibility as well and they are getting off the hook because Bush f.cked up. I don't think that is right either.

Never one to let the facts get in your way, are you?

Get a clue:

Blanco’s letter requesting Emergency aid under the Stafford Act, August 27th

http://www.bayoubuzz.com/articles.aspx?aid=4843

President Bush legally puts the ball in Chertoff and Howard’s court, August 27th

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...20050827-1.htm

In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort. The new Department will also prioritize the important issue of citizen preparedness. Educating America's families on how best to prepare their homes for a disaster and tips for citizens on how to respond in a crisis will be given special attention at DHS.

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/theme_home2.jsp

[footstepsfrom#27]

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

Never one to let the facts get in your way, are you?

Get a clue:

Blanco’s letter requesting Emergency aid under the Stafford Act, August 27th

http://www.bayoubuzz.com/articles.aspx?aid=4843

President Bush legally puts the ball in Chertoff and Howard’s court, August 27th

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...20050827-1.htm

Some people don't realilze that the Stafford Act authorizes the President to mobilize the resources of the US military in support of exactly the kind of request Governor Blanco made. In fact it authorizes that response BEFORE the disaster hits. Blanco requested the specific help Bush had an obligation to supply under the Act, but not only failed to provide it, he lied about even having received a request, then lied about having information that the levies would break.

He's simply got to go. This guy makes Tricky Dick and Slick Willie look like Honest Abe Lincoln.

[Rohirrim]

Maybe Dubya can talk Big Daddy Bush into stepping into the POTUS position for him and bailing him out of all this trouble. It's always worked before. Now that Daddy Bush has Slick Willie for a jacuzzi buddy, Dubya could luck out and get two POTUSes for the price of one.

[TailgateNut]

The sad side of this is that hundreds died and thousands are still unaccounted for, and what's worse is the "sheep" are still backing and spinning for Bush.

[footstepsfrom#27]

Bush accomplished something in the wake of Katrina I thought was pretty much impossible; he made Jessie Jackson look like he might know what he was talking about.

[clarker]

Originally Posted by footstepsfrom#27

Some people don't realilze that the Stafford Act authorizes the President to mobilize the resources of the US military in support of exactly the kind of request Governor Blanco made. In fact it authorizes that response BEFORE the disaster hits. Blanco requested the specific help Bush had an obligation to supply under the Act, but not only failed to provide it, he lied about even having received a request, then lied about having information that the levies would break.

He's simply got to go. This guy makes Tricky Dick and Slick Willie look like Honest Abe Lincoln.

Look my Dad retired a Lt. Col. after 26 years in the South Dakota National Guard. I'm not spinning for Bush, I'm just telling you how it works. Of course Bush has the authority to mobolize the Guard, but Governor Blanco doesn't have to wait for him to do it.

The Governor of any state is the Commander in Chief of that states' Guard units. They can order the Guard to mobilize at any time.They don't need Bush's ok, they can just do it. The question then is why did the good Governor do just that instead of waiting on Bush.

Plus I'm not saying Bush is with out fault. To me it seems like you can hold the state and local governments accountable for their mess ups and still have many things that Bush could be blamed for. And there are many things on this you can blame Bush for. For example if you want to make the argument that the National Guard units were not better prepared because they are being overused in Iraq. That is a good argument in my book. FEMA did a piss pour job as well as Homeland Security and the buck stops at Bush for that.

However I don't think the State and local governments should get off the hook, because people want to lay the whole thing on Bush's feet. If the National Guard wasn't called in on time, that's on the Governor. 300 school buses remain parked and then flooded when they could have been use to get some people out of the New Orleans, that is on the Mayor.

I don't see how that is covering up for Bush. The whole world knows that he screwed up on this, but that doesn't mean that other people didn't make mistakes either.

[enjolras]

For one....500 million wouldn't have fixed the levees...they're rebuilding them now...better with more metal slats and with T-walls instead of I-walls...it's still designed to only with-stand a catergory 3 hurricane. They did have teams ready to go...the scope of it was just to big with the resources...remember the Hurricane went from a 1 to a 4 inside of two days. They did have police at the dome...but the police left to protect their own families. You can blame the government for many things...but you can't pin this one on anybody. It was the biggest natural disaster in our history...I just don't think people understand the scope of it.

Of course it WASN'T a category 4 inside of New Orleans, it wasn't even a particularly strong 3.

Nope, it was the culmination of horrible planning at the city level, horrible oversight at the state level, and a complete failure of the safety net that the federal government (through its various executive organizations) was supposed to provide.

We literally failed at EVERY level on this... from the bottom to the top.

[bendog]

Originally Posted by RunByDesign

Not ****ing lie about what I knew, for one.

Same **** Rice tried to pull on the 9-11 commission..."we had no idea that they would fly planes into the builiding.."

Alas, that is the cornerstone of the Bush methodology.

For me the feds biggest blunder was that the "reforms" that went into FEMA post 9-11 were that there are interstate compacts whereby states have agreed to send emergency responders to other states when requested. I know for a fact that FEMA held up some state troopers and firefighters from Ill who were set to come to Miss. In LA, there's some confusion, imo, as to what Blanco said when Tex offered some help. However, FEMA should have been on the horn to other states 2 days before the storm hit.

But, I also know the natl guards don't have the helicopters they had before we invaded Iraq. And in Miss, the emergency guys literally had to push trees off the roads for over 50 miles just to reach a lot of places, so not having more helicopters available was a problem. Intially.

But there were screwups at the state and local levels in LA. In Miss, I was pleasantly surprised. Now a sheriff was just given a suspended sentence for forcing FEAM to turn over some ice to citizens in Miss, but the plea bargain provides the sheriff can keep his job, and the people will reelect him as long as he wants.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by footstepsfrom#27

Some people don't realilze that the Stafford Act authorizes the President to mobilize the resources of the US military in support of exactly the kind of request Governor Blanco made. In fact it authorizes that response BEFORE the disaster hits. Blanco requested the specific help Bush had an obligation to supply under the Act, but not only failed to provide it, he lied about even having received a request, then lied about having information that the levies would break.

And yet people like clarker keep trying to work the same old discredited RNC talking points.

Disgusting.

[footstepsfrom#27]

Originally Posted by clarker

Look my Dad retired a Lt. Col. after 26 years in the South Dakota National Guard. I'm not spinning for Bush, I'm just telling you how it works. Of course Bush has the authority to mobolize the Guard, but Governor Blanco doesn't have to wait for him to do it.

The Governor of any state is the Commander in Chief of that states' Guard units. They can order the Guard to mobilize at any time.They don't need Bush's ok, they can just do it. The question then is why did the good Governor do just that instead of waiting on Bush.

Who said anything about the National Guard? I'm talking about Department of Defense military assets...not the Louisiana National Guard. Blanco requested it...Bush ignored it, then lied about it.

[Spider]

Originally Posted by footstepsfrom#27

Who said anything about the National Guard? I'm talking about Department of Defense military assets...not the Louisiana National Guard. Blanco requested it...Bush ignored it, then lied about it.

i did not know this ........... doesnt shock me though ......PS dont tell DBruleU , this will crush him ..........