posted on September 6, 2005 10:20:45 PM new
FEMA Chief Sent Help Only When Storm Ended
By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer
The government's disaster chief waited until hours after Hurricane Katrina had already struck the Gulf Coast before asking his boss to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security workers to support rescuers in the region — and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal documents.
Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29. Brown said that among duties of these employees was to "convey a positive image" about the government's response for victims.
Before then, FEMA had positioned smaller rescue and communications teams across the Gulf Coast. But officials acknowledged Tuesday the first department-wide appeal for help came only as the storm raged.
Brown's memo to Chertoff described Katrina as "this near catastrophic event" but otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely ended, "Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our responsibilities."
The initial responses of the government and Brown came under escalating criticism as the breadth of destruction and death grew. President Bush and Congress on Tuesday pledged separate investigations into the federal response to Katrina. "Governments at all levels failed," said Sen. Susan Collins (news, bio, voting record), R-Maine.
Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said Brown had positioned front-line rescue teams and Coast Guard helicopters before the storm. Brown's memo on Aug. 29 aimed to assemble the necessary federal work force to support the rescues, establish communications and coordinate with victims and community groups, Knocke said.
Instead of rescuing people or recovering bodies, these employees would focus on helping victims find the help they needed, he said.
"There will be plenty of time to assess what worked and what didn't work," Knocke said. "Clearly there will be time for blame to be assigned and to learn from some of the successful efforts."
Brown's memo told employees that among their duties, they would be expected to "convey a positive image of disaster operations to government officials, community organizations and the general public."
"FEMA response and recovery operations are a top priority of the department and as we know, one of yours," Brown wrote Chertoff. He proposed sending 1,000 Homeland Security Department employees within 48 hours and 2,000 within seven days.
Knocke said the 48-hour period suggested for the Homeland employees was to ensure they had adequate training. "They were training to help the life-savers," Knocke said.
Employees required a supervisor's approval and at least 24 hours of disaster training in Maryland, Florida or Georgia. "You must be physically able to work in a disaster area without refrigeration for medications and have the ability to work in the outdoors all day," Brown wrote.
The same day Brown wrote Chertoff, Brown also urged local fire and rescue departments outside Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi not to send trucks or emergency workers into disaster areas without an explicit request for help from state or local governments. Brown said it was vital to coordinate fire and rescue efforts.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (news, bio, voting record), D-Md., said Tuesday that Brown should step down.
After a senators-only briefing by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and other Cabinet members, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (news, bio, voting record) said lawmakers weren't getting their questions answered.
"What people up there want to know, Democrats and Republicans, is what is the challenge ahead, how are you handling that and what did you do wrong in the past," said Schumer, D-N.Y.
Sen. Ted Stevens (news, bio, voting record), R-Alaska, said the administration is "getting a bad rap" for the emergency response. "People have to understand this is a big, big problem."
Meanwhile, the airline industry said the government's request for help evacuating storm victims didn't come until late Thursday afternoon. The president of the Air Transport Association, James May, said the Homeland Security Department called then to ask if the group could participate in an airlift for refugees.
posted on September 6, 2005 11:13:50 PM new
I see you didn't even read the article before you posted it, your title is incorrect.
Nothing in the article even mentions President Bush as directly overseeing FEMA which comes under the pervue of Homeland Security.
Once again Leadership does not mean micromanaging your subordinates. Please take a class or some leadership training to help you understand how leadership actually works.
Your hatred for President Bush is tainting anything you post and bears considerable filtering.
posted on September 7, 2005 12:03:36 AM new
Paying the Price for Katrina and America’s Shadow Government
by John W. Whitehead
9/1/2005
“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.”— Hosea 8:7
As those ravaged by hurricane Katrina begin the slow and painstaking process of repairing their lives, it is time to assess how the federal government prepares for and deals with such emergencies. This is especially so in light of the fact that in June of this year the Bush Administration reduced funding for the New Orleans District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by a record $71.2 million—an epic reduction for one fiscal year. As the Dolan Media news wire reported at the time, “The cuts mean major hurricane and flood protection projects will not be awarded to local engineering firms. Also, a study to determine ways to protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane has now been shelved.”
Several things are readily apparent. First, Americans have lost control of their government. Besides the perfunctory act of voting—and only about half even do that—Americans have absolutely no voice in how their government operates. Second, those who wield governmental power often do not have our best interests at heart. This is no more clearly illustrated than by the shadow government known as FEMA and its black-op funding.
In 1979, President Carter signed an executive order that transferred many of the disaster relief agencies into one large agency known as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. After the events of 9/11, FEMA became one of the four major branches of the new Department of Homeland Security. Currently, FEMA has 2,500 full-time employees and approximately 5,000 disaster-ready reservists.
FEMA is generally associated with natural disasters. However, the agency’s actual purpose is much broader and includes any national emergency related to terrorism or civil unrest. Its professed purpose is to assure the survivability of the United States government.
Because disasters have the potential to create chaos, FEMA has expanded powers which are not given to any other government entity. It has the power to develop plans to take control of the mechanisms of production, distribution, energy sources, wages, salaries and the flow of money during a national emergency. FEMA is also empowered to take over modes of transportation, take control of the media as well as food resources, assume control at airports and seize and direct citizens. Congress is even prevented from reviewing these actions until six months after a state of national emergency has been declared. Thus, FEMA essentially has the power to put the Constitution on hold while trying to restore order in the wake of a perceived disaster—thus turning the country into a military state.
There is no doubt that FEMA needs the ability to obtain whatever resources are available when aiding in disaster relief. The problem is that all the power given to FEMA has come through presidential executive orders, rather than the legislative process, and has scuttled the representative process. As such, FEMA, which is run by unelected officials, will become the most powerful governmental authority figure during a time of national emergency.
Very few people, however, have ever heard of this powerful entity. On a rare occasion, FEMA will receive a few headlines when the agency organizes disaster relief for an earthquake or hurricane—such as with hurricane Katrina.
The one time FEMA did receive major media attention was during the relief effort following hurricane Andrew in the early 1990s. After the hurricane, FEMA was called in to head up the relief efforts, but it lacked the resources to provide the proper level of assistance necessary. Because of FEMA’s inadequate resources for such disasters, the agency fell under some scrutiny and secrets about the agency began to surface. What came out of the critical look was that FEMA was spending many times more for “black operations” (or black ops) than for disaster relief. Indeed, during the hurricane Andrew fiasco, it was discovered that FEMA had focused so much of its efforts on creating bunkers and preparing to protect the “chosen few” in case of a national emergency that it had only focused about six percent of its funding on what it was created for in the first place—actual preparation for a natural disaster. Even more disconcerting is that only a limited number of Congress members with top security clearance had any idea that FEMA was spending $1.3 billion-plus of taxpayer money on secret, non-natural, black op projects.
While this money was being spent, the U.S. government was dramatically reducing its emphasis on war preparedness for the ordinary citizen, spending less than 50 cents per citizen by 1991.
Many critics believe that FEMA is a “shadow government” that will take over at any time. Because it is given very little media attention and essentially has no congressional accountability, there is very little we know about the official workings of FEMA. One thing is sure, FEMA does more than just provide relief after a natural disaster. Two separate but not necessarily mutually exclusive situations surrounding FEMA provide a better understanding of their power and the threat they may pose to civil liberties during a national emergency.
The first situation deals with the circumstances surrounding a little known exercise called Rex-84. After President Carter created FEMA, little was actually done to beef it up until Ronald Reagan took office. During Reagan’s first year in office, he signed a number of directives on civil defense policy and emergency mobilization preparedness to do just that.
During this time, Reagan also appointed Louis O. Giuffrida, a former national guard general, to head up FEMA. During Giuffrida’s time as head of FEMA, he focused most of his attention on preventing domestic civil unrest and put concern for natural disaster and nuclear war relief to the side. By 1982, this emphasis on civil unrest had led to the creation of a joint FEMA-Pentagon paper known as “The Civil/Military Alliance in Emergency Management,” which ignored portions of the Posse Comitatus Act in advocating for the use of the military in civil law enforcement. This new civil alliance gave the military and FEMA more emergency powers to acquire resources in an attempt to prevent domestic civil disturbances.
All this buildup led to the Rex-84 exercise, which was conducted in the spring of 1984. Rex-84 was essentially a secret training operation jointly run by FEMA and the Department of Defense to train 34 federal agencies on how to deal with domestic civil unrest. Some of the more notable agencies that were a part of Rex-84 included the CIA and the Secret Service. The training program anticipated civil disturbances, demonstrations and strikes that would hinder continuity of the government. To counter these disturbances, the military would be authorized to move groups of people, arrest segments of the population and impose martial law to regain continuity of government. The exercise envisioned at least 100,000 U.S. citizens, identified as national security threats, being rounded up and thrown into “containment” (or concentration) camps for unspecified periods. After the exercise was completed, then-U.S. Attorney General William Smith raised serious concerns about its legality.
The current Bush administration has ties with personnel from FEMA and Rex-84 during the Reagan administration. John Brinkerhoff, who played a major role in the martial law planning during Giuffrida’s time as head of FEMA, is now with the influential Anser Institute for Homeland Security. He has recently published a paper arguing for the legality of using military personnel on American streets. And the recent admission by the Bush administration about the existence of containment camps in the U.S. also raises concerns because these same training camps were part of the Rex-84 training.
Another aspect of FEMA is Mount Weather near Bluemont, Va., an underground bunker the size of a small city. This facility is one of a number sprinkled around the country which would allegedly be used in the case of a national emergency as a protective facility for high level government officials.
The Mount Weather bunker, which is built into the side of a mountain, contains a hospital, crematorium, dining and recreation areas, sleeping quarters, reservoirs of drinking and cooling water, an emergency power plant and a radio/television studio which is part of the Emergency Broadcasting System. Thus, in case of an emergency, the chosen elite will have a safe haven, while we taxpayers who foot the bill for such secret facilities are left on our own.
FEMA’s role at the facility is allegedly to establish a “back up government” in case of a national disaster. Supposedly there is also an Office of the Presidency at Mount Weather, which is appointed by FEMA and regularly receives top secret national security information from all Federal departments and agencies.
The facility, for the most part, was a secret to everyone, including Congress, until a Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights hearing in 1975. During this hearing, some minimal information about the various facilities surfaced, but the specifics of these facilities are still a secret.
Senators were rebuffed in their quest for information about Mount Weather. For example, testifying before the Senate Subcommittee, Air Force General Leslie W. Bray said, “I am not at liberty to describe precisely what is the role and the mission and the capability that we have at Mount Weather, or at any other precise location.” Douglas Lea, subcommittee staff director, made these comments: “I don’t understand what they are trying to hide out there. Mount Weather is just closed up to us. I don’t believe there’s been any effective Congressional control over the system.” To this day, Congress still has no oversight, budgetary or otherwise, on the Mount Weather facility.
We are left with a host of questions. Is FEMA’s broad security power really for national disasters? What is the real purpose of the massive underground bunkers? Why is FEMA unaccountable to our elected representatives? And do we really have a shadow government that answers to no one?
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute and author of the award-winning Grasping for the Wind. He can be contacted at [email protected].
posted on September 7, 2005 05:37:28 AM new
mingo- Your article raises more questions, although it does answer a few. I was not aware of FEMA's "history".
The only reference to the President is that he still has a few people within FEMA/REX-84 who were personnel during Reagan's time in office. Where they in these organizations while Clinton was in office? (I only bring it up as it would be odd if they were not employed in this capacity for 8 years and then brought back.)
Under who's (whose?) administration were the "containment"/concentration camps and the Mount Weather bunker built? I don't have a problem with a secure bunker designed to keep a continuation of the government during a time of extreme crisis, but I do with the camps, unless they are used to house criminals during a time of extreme crisis.
I also understand that the general public does not need to know all with regard to national security, (believe me, you don't want to know), however, I do believe every branch of government or governmental organization should be able to be held accountable for what they do and should have a clear cut mission.
posted on September 7, 2005 06:28:38 AM new
Yep...and then they keep repeating THEY don't like having religion shoved down their throats. go figure........ LOL
"Oh, wonderful! The thing that knocks religion at every turn, is now quoting the bible!!
The bible is considered great literature regardless of the doctrines of any particular religion. Believers don't have exclusive rights to use quotes from that great source.
posted on September 7, 2005 07:19:47 AM newThe bible is considered great literature regardless of the doctrines of any particular religion. Believers don't have exclusive rights to use quotes from that great source.
LOL...well then helen, I'll give you as a reference for all those school children that aren't ALLOWED to bring their Bibles to school. Those liberals seem to think it IS a religious book....and might harm some other child if brought to school and it's content shared with anyone.
hahaha oh brother.
"Whenever the nation is under attack, from within or without, liberals side with the enemy. This is their essence." --Ann Coulter
And why the American Voters chose to RE-elect President Bush to four more years. YES!!!
[ edited by Linda_K on Sep 7, 2005 07:21 AM ]
posted on September 7, 2005 07:21:57 AM new
How totally stupid!
" dblfugger9
Oh, wonderful! The thing that knocks religion at every turn, is now quoting the bible!!""
Linda_K
posted on September 7, 2005 06:28:38 AM
Yep...and then they keep repeating THEY don't like having religion shoved down their throats. go figure........ LOL """"
HOw unbelievably stupid!!!
The bubblebrain twins are at it again! That whole article and they pick a quotation, one sentence THAT I DIDN'T INCLUDE it was in the article....what's the matter , You two can't READ for any length of time???
TOO stupid to have a comment on the whole article ..well OBVIOUSLY you are!
LindaKKK obviously you are especially too stupid to answer since that whole article is "shoving religion down someone's throat"?
Sorry you can't read for more than 3-4 seconds in a row...I hear that happens to the sexually frutrated
posted on September 7, 2005 07:45:50 AM new
Oh....I see helen....first it's a "great piece of literature" but it shouldn't be allowed in schools, along with other sources of great LITERATURE that students study, huh? LOL Not even for private reading at break or lunch times. lol
It's just always funny to me to watch you, as an atheist, either use Bible verses when it fits your needs, or defend them it as great literature when it also serves your purpose.
"Whenever the nation is under attack, from within or without, liberals side with the enemy. This is their essence." --Ann Coulter
And why the American Voters chose to RE-elect President Bush to four more years. YES!!!
posted on September 7, 2005 07:45:54 AM new
No, Helen, LindaKKK can't stop laughing....every time she sees a body floating or a baby dying she laughs ! She's so happy that SHE would've known exactly how to act and what to do with no problems whatsoever and these horrible tragedies prove her so right ...so she laughs and laughs......last ...the VERY LAST laugh will be on her.
posted on September 7, 2005 07:50:31 AM new
More "intelligent" "civil" discussion from LindaKKK:
Linda_K
posted on September 7, 2005 07:47:08 AM new
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More vomiting from cf/mg/Linda Blair """
Still haven't the brains to address the article....poor love starved hate-filled old thing......
posted on September 7, 2005 07:59:59 AM new
As a good Christian, linda...you should be proud that I use and recognize as good, the verses from a book that is the basis of your religion. Unlike you, most believers want to spread their philosophy ---not keep it exclusively to themselves and mock those who quote some words from the bible.
posted on September 7, 2005 09:30:01 AM new
The Bush Administration appointed Mike Brown, Director of FEMA, someone who had absolutely zero experience in disasters and emergency response. Bush should take responsibility for appointing someone unqualified to lead an organization with such high responsibilities. Before becoming the Director of FEMA, Mike Brown was asked to resign from organizing horse shows for the International Arabian Horse Association for "supervision failures" that led to several lawsuits. What exactly does Arabian Horse shows have to do with Federal Emergency Response??? I have yet to figure that out. Perhaps Ron or Linda can shed some light on that. LOL.
Brown pushed from last job: Horse group: FEMA chief had to be `asked to resign'
By Brett Arends
Saturday, September 3, 2005 - Updated: 02:01 PM EST
The federal official in charge of the bungled New Orleans rescue was fired from his last private-sector job overseeing horse shows.
And before joining the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a deputy director in 2001, GOP activist Mike Brown had no significant experience that would have qualified him for the position.
The Oklahoman got the job through an old college friend who at the time was heading up FEMA.
The agency, run by Brown since 2003, is now at the center of a growing fury over the handling of the New Orleans disaster.
``I look at FEMA and I shake my head,'' said a furious Gov. Mitt Romney yesterday, calling the response ``an embarrassment.''
President Bush, after touring the Big Easy, said he was ``not satisfied'' with the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina's devastation.
And U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch predicted there would be hearings on Capitol Hill over the mishandled operation.
Brown - formerly an estates and family lawyer - this week has has made several shocking public admissions, including interviews where he suggested FEMA was unaware of the misery and desperation of refugees stranded at the New Orleans convention center.
Before joining the Bush administration in 2001, Brown spent 11 years as the commissioner of judges and stewards for the International Arabian Horse Association, a breeders' and horse-show organization based in Colorado.
``We do disciplinary actions, certification of (show trial) judges. We hold classes to train people to become judges and stewards. And we keep records,'' explained a spokeswoman for the IAHA commissioner's office. ``This was his full-time job . . . for 11 years,'' she added.
Brown was forced out of the position after a spate of lawsuits over alleged supervision failures.
``He was asked to resign,'' Bill Pennington, president of the IAHA at the time, confirmed last night.
Soon after, Brown was invited to join the administration by his old Oklahoma college roommate Joseph Allbaugh, the previous head of FEMA until he quit in 2003 to work for the president's re-election campaign.
The White House last night defended Brown's appointment. A spokesman noted Brown served as FEMA deputy director and general counsel before taking the top job, and that he has now overseen the response to ``more than 164 declared disasters and emergencies,'' including last year's record-setting hurricane season.
posted on September 7, 2005 10:06:41 AM new
This is an interesting theory...
The New Orleans Hostage Crisis
Michael Brown is most likely an incompetent stooge but the fact of the matter is that when he refused to release supplies, National Guard troops, and construction equipment, and then ordered the Superdome locked and checkpoints set up along the roads leading out of New Orleans to turn back anyone trying to escape the destruction, he was following orders. None of it was accidental, none of it was a matter of poor decision-making or the wrong priorities. It was a deliberate attempt by the Bush Administration to blackmail the state of Louisiana into handing the city over to the Federal government.
On Friday, four days after Katrina hit, National Guard troops finally arrived, supposedly bringing food and water to those trapped in the Superdome. It's true that there was an initial delivery of emergency supplies, but it was hardly adequate. Everyone assumed more would be coming. But the NG came armed, supposedly to defend itself against bands of looters with handguns and rifles. Soon after, it became clear that the NG's real orders were to lock down the Superdome and prevent anyone from leaving.
Between Wednesday morning and Friday night, ships loaded with food, water, and medical supplies arrived. FEMA refused to allow them to be off-loaded. Michael Brown then ordered the communications lines cut that tied emergency workers together.
Note that the link is to the infamous article in the Washington Post, the one in which the Post reprinted the lie told to them by a 'senior administration official' (presumably Karl Rove or someone working for him), that Blanco had not declared a state of emergency as of Saturday, September 3, when in fact, as the correction at the top of the article says, Blanco had declared the state of emergency on August 26 (many feel the Post has an ethical obligation to reveal the name of the 'senior administration official', as any promise of confidentiality was rendered inoperative by the lie, and the fact of the lie is now part of the news). The spinning that is going on is part of the blame-shifting exercise by the White House, but, as Dispatch from the Trenches points out, has a darker purpose as well. Based on Bush's supposed authority to use the National Guard to quell civil disturbances under the Insurrection Act, Bush wanted to declare martial law and take over the city of New Orleans. Why? Dispatch from the Trenches gives four reasons, the most important ones being the third and fourth (emphasis in the original):
"Declaring martial law would give the Federal government total control of the city: the Army would be brought in to police it and - perhaps most important to this corporate president - the Federal government would have charge of all the rebuilding contracts, giving it $$$billions$$$ to hand out to its corporate sponsors.
There's also the little matter of taking decisions about how and what to rebuild out of the hands of the people of New Orleans and putting them into the hands of people who see New Orleans as 'Sin City', effectively ensuring that New Orleans would never again be the Big Easy."
posted on September 7, 2005 11:34:12 AM new
It is called to the victors go the spoils, President is allowed to appoint whomever he wants, in this case it seems it was not a good decision.
But being the shop owner you are you have never hired someone who didn't work out?
When you grow and have many stores are you going to try and trust your managers or you going to be the only one running each and every store?
posted on September 7, 2005 11:35:44 AM new
yes mingo, but let's not forget... the President himself will be overseeing the investigation into the Feds handling of the crisis. Talk about thinking Americans are stupid. Bush is the laughing stock of this country.
posted on September 7, 2005 02:41:14 PM new
Hey All, call your Senators and Congress people. Tell them you want an independent investigation not one run by politicians.
Do it soon because you can be sure people like the wackos Linda_K and defogger are calling theirs asking for a republican investigation.
We can all show the phony religious right wing they had their chance TO CONTROL OUR GOVERNMENT BUT FAILED. Its easy just vote them out in the 2006 elections.
Of course some leaders like Bill Frisk is going to be hard to get a hold off this week. Frisk is busy this week trying to get more tax breaks that will mostly benefit the wealthy AGAIN !!!!!
[ edited by bigpeepa on Sep 7, 2005 02:47 PM ]
posted on September 7, 2005 03:03:52 PM new you can be sure people like the wackos Linda_K and defogger are calling theirs asking for a republican investigation.
hahaha! Shows what you profess to know, you big'mess!
posted on September 7, 2005 03:13:40 PM new
"LOL...well then helen, I'll give you as a reference for all those school children that aren't ALLOWED to bring their Bibles to school. Those liberals seem to think it IS a religious book....and might harm some other child if brought to school and it's content shared with anyone."
Amen, Linda....Your back in form. Congrad's
Amen, "Fighting commie's and other pinko's with every waking moment."
Those liberals seem to think it IS a religious book....and might harm some other child if brought to school and it's content shared with anyone.
