envax@envax.net
they wanted to leap into action, but the White House...
Mon Sep 5, 2005 21:58
64.140.159.233
Katrina....they wanted to leap into action, but the White House never made
the call.
Lt. Commander Kelly explained that NorthCom was ready to go well in advance of Katrina....they wanted to leap into action, but the White House never made the call.
NorthCom Lt. Commander Sean Kelly explained the military's efforts which, in addition to military support, include distribution of medical supplies, search and rescue operations, distributing food and water, and meeting transportation needs. (Note: the server hosting the video seems to be overwhelmed. This is a direct .mpg link, which is also slow right now, but keep trying.)
When the BBC noted the criticism of the government's slow response, Lt. Commander Kelly explained that NorthCom was ready to go well in advance of Katrina making landfall, but suggested the president didn't make the right call at the right time.
"Northcom started planning before the storm even hit. We were ready when it hit Florida, because, as you remember, it hit the bottom part of Florida, and then we were planning once it was pointed towards the Gulf Coast.
"So, what we did, we activated what we call 'defense coordinating officers' to work with the states to say, 'OK, what do you think you will need?' And we set up staging bases that could be started.
"We had the USS Bataan sailing almost behind the hurricane so once the hurricane made landfall, its search and rescue helicopters could be available almost immediately So, we had things ready.
"The only caveat is: we have to wait until the president authorizes us to do so. The laws of the United States say that the military can't just act in this fashion; we have to wait for the president to give us permission."
Apparently, that permission could have been given right away, but it wasn't. Bush was on vacation, sharing some cake with John McCain, and pretending to play some guitar.
# President Bush plays a guitar presented to him by Country Singer Mark Wills, right, backstage following his visit to Naval Base Coronado, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Bush visited the base to deliver remarks on V-J Commemoration Day. (AP Photo/ABC News, Martha Raddatz)
AP - Aug 30 11:56 AM
This seems like it could be a fairly big deal. There's been some frustration on the part of military officials about bureaucracy and FEMA's ineffectiveness, but Kelly's remarks to the BCC sounded like a fairly direct challenge to the president's leadership — they wanted to leap into action, but the White House never made the call.
Considering that there are already questions about who was in charge last week, can someone please ask the White House who first gave the order to NorthCom and when? http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/wp-print.php?p=5167
Katrina criticisms echo past complaints against Bush
AFP via Yahoo! News
- Sep 04 4:20 AM
http://rds.yahoo.com/S=53720273/K=bush+guitar/v=2/SID=e/l=NSER/R=1/SIG=13n79pqjk/EXP=1126054395/*-http%3A//news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050904/ts_alt_afp/usweatherbushpolitics_050904105954
APFN
The True Face of FEMA / Is FEMA Ready for Katrina? Sun Aug 28, 2005 19:56 ...
HTTP://www.apfn.net/messageboard/04-20-05/discussion.cgi.67.html ...
Lt. Commander Kelly explained that NorthCom was ready to go well in advance of Katrina....they wanted to leap into action, but the White House never made the call.
NorthCom Lt. Commander Sean Kelly explained the military's efforts which, in addition to military support, include distribution of medical supplies, search and rescue operations, distributing food and water, and meeting transportation needs. (Note: the server hosting the video seems to be overwhelmed. This is a direct .mpg link, which is also slow right now, but keep trying.)
When the BBC noted the criticism of the government's slow response, Lt. Commander Kelly explained that NorthCom was ready to go well in advance of Katrina making landfall, but suggested the president didn't make the right call at the right time.
"Northcom started planning before the storm even hit. We were ready when it hit Florida, because, as you remember, it hit the bottom part of Florida, and then we were planning once it was pointed towards the Gulf Coast.
"So, what we did, we activated what we call 'defense coordinating officers' to work with the states to say, 'OK, what do you think you will need?' And we set up staging bases that could be started.
"We had the USS Bataan sailing almost behind the hurricane so once the hurricane made landfall, its search and rescue helicopters could be available almost immediately So, we had things ready.
"The only caveat is: we have to wait until the president authorizes us to do so. The laws of the United States say that the military can't just act in this fashion; we have to wait for the president to give us permission."
Apparently, that permission could have been given right away, but it wasn't. Bush was on vacation, sharing some cake with John McCain, and pretending to play some guitar.
# President Bush plays a guitar presented to him by Country Singer Mark Wills, right, backstage following his visit to Naval Base Coronado, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Bush visited the base to deliver remarks on V-J Commemoration Day. (AP Photo/ABC News, Martha Raddatz)
AP - Aug 30 11:56 AM
This seems like it could be a fairly big deal. There's been some frustration on the part of military officials about bureaucracy and FEMA's ineffectiveness, but Kelly's remarks to the BCC sounded like a fairly direct challenge to the president's leadership — they wanted to leap into action, but the White House never made the call.
Considering that there are already questions about who was in charge last week, can someone please ask the White House who first gave the order to NorthCom and when? http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/wp-print.php?p=5167
Katrina criticisms echo past complaints against Bush
AFP via Yahoo! News
- Sep 04 4:20 AM
http://rds.yahoo.com/S=53720273/K=bush+guitar/v=2/SID=e/l=NSER/R=1/SIG=13n79pqjk/EXP=1126054395/*-http%3A//news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050904/ts_alt_afp/usweatherbushpolitics_050904105954
APFN
The True Face of FEMA / Is FEMA Ready for Katrina? Sun Aug 28, 2005 19:56 ...
HTTP://www.apfn.net/messageboard/04-20-05/discussion.cgi.67.html ...
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