Katrina Report Spreads Blame

Hurricane Katrina exposed the U.S. government’s failure to learn the lessons of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as leaders from President Bush down disregarded ample warnings of the threat to New Orleans and did not execute emergency plans or share information that would have saved lives, according to a blistering report by House investigators.

A draft of the report, to be released publicly Wednesday, includes 90 findings of failures at all levels of government, according to a senior investigation staffer who requested anonymity because the document is not final. Titled “A Failure of Initiative,” it is one of three separate reviews by the House, Senate and White House that will in coming weeks dissect the response to the nation’s costliest natural disaster.

The 600-plus-page report lays primary fault with the passive reaction and misjudgments of top Bush aides, singling out Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, the Homeland Security Operations Center and the White House Homeland Security Council, according to a 60-page summary of the document obtained by The Washington Post. Regarding Bush, the report found that “earlier presidential involvement could have speeded the response” because he alone could have cut through all bureaucratic resistance.

That’s right. “He alone could have cut through all bureaucratic resistance.”

The word “failure” appears about a dozen times in the article. The word “engage” appears once. The word “Rove” appears not once. That guy is going to be nowhere to be found when the shit comes down.

More reports to follow in the coming weeks. This is the House GOP one, unusually fierce in its criticism. The Democratic one is in the works, apparently. The Whitewash report White House report is also pending.

Maybe they should just publish it and get it on the best seller (Best New Fiction) that much quicker.

iTunes: Beausoleil: L’ouragon (The Hurricane): Our New Orleans [3:55]
iTunes: Bright Eyes: When the President Talks to God: When the President Talks to God – Single [2:36]

Technorati Tags: Katrina, Miserable Failure