An Open Letter

Dear Americans,

I’m sorry to say this, but your government has let you down.  The ongoing situation in New Orleans is atrocious. The response from President Bush, the Red Cross, and FEMA has been slow, unorganized, and woefully inadequate.  This is going to turn into something big, which I hope will shake the Bush Administration to the core.

Experts have been predicting this catastrophe since 2001 or earlier. In response, the Army Corps of Engineers asked for $110 million dollars to spend on reinforcing the levees and water systems to help brace for this weather attack. Instead what they received from Bush was $42 million – less than half of the amount they needed. However, Bush had no problems pushing money elsewhere to soothe and ensure his political agenda. This included over $200 million allocated to building a bridge to a remote island in Alaska.  Why this was more important, no one will ever know.

I was watching CNN this morning and the Governor of Louisiana was begging for more troops.  The mayor of New Orleans was furious at the slow, inadequate response. Why is it that when the tsunami hit, the army was able to deploy thousands of troops and drop hundreds of pounds of food within the first 2 days? Why are reporters able to get into the city, but officials claim they cannot?  How can they just leave those poor people at the convention center with no food, water or guards to maintain order?  Why can’t they drop them off some food?  Where are the buses and why aren’t they being escorted out of the major cities to ensure quick deployment, instead of being stuck in 4 hour traffic jams?  Why can’t the president mandate Greyhound and other companies send buses down immediately?  When emergency workers evacuating patients at the Charity Hospital came under sniper attack (that’s another rant right there), why did troops only show up for a few hours?  Why didn’t they stay to ensure that the rest of the evacuation went smoothly?

FEMA is a complete failure. Absolutely useless. If this is what Homeland Security is all about, then I’m frightened.  The reporter on CNN this morning was talking with the organizer of FEMA and was all but attacking him for not sending relief in earlier. She asked him many of the questions stated above. He wouldn’t answer. He just kept saying that they were helping people and that more troops would be in by the end of the weekend.  Her response was “But why now?  It’s Friday!!  Why weren’t they ordered on Monday or Tuesday?”  Of course she got no direct answer and it was clear that she was getting frustrated.  Since Bush came in to power, I’ve come to regard CNN as the sensationalist, Republican propaganda channel. I was shocked to see them attack the government so fiercely.

Things are only going to get worse in the short term. When the dust finally settles, people are going to have to answer some very difficult questions and own up to the grave mistakes they have made. I hope that this will be the time when George W. Bush and his cabinet are finally put through the ringers for making foreign interests their number one priority, instead of their “Homeland.”

My heart goes out to you all.