Report faults Chertoff, Brown for lack of leadership during Katrina

[PhilipShore]

The State
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Report faults Chertoff, Brown for lack of leadership during Katrina
By Seth Borenstein
Jan. 31, 2006

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nation/13759006.htm

WASHINGTON - Despite ample warning of an impending catastrophe, the federal government bungled its response to Hurricane Katrina because of a void of leadership and confusion about who was in charge, an independent investigation ordered by Congress has found.

The Government Accountability Office, the investigatory arm of Congress, in a preliminary report to be released Wednesday faulted Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and his designee, former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown, for not filling a crucial "leadership role during Hurricane Katrina."

That void "serves to underscore the immaturity of and weaknesses relating to the current national response framework," according to a copy of the report obtained Tuesday evening by Knight Ridder.

While the report says little more than was apparent in the hours after the hurricane damaged, demolished or destroyed long swaths of the coastline, the GAO's conclusion is striking for its bluntness.

[Up2Late]

1. But I thought they blamed the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff at the WH?

They said he went home at 10:00pm the night Katrina hit, and didn't tell anyone to turn on their TeeVee.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

2. duh

really?

[leesa]

3. Let's arrest them for criminal negligence then, OK? 6000+ deaths??

[autorank]

4. GAO distinguishes itself. It will not take the fall, be a patsy.

Damn, they know too miuch

[rodeodance]

23. hey Cherkoff--we are watching you.

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. Chertoff looks like one of the cadaverous "broom" bastards

that shows up before a big layoff. The hip beard guy that turns out to be a real fucker.

[wordpix2]

11. there is something wrong, I agree. He looks strange - drugs?

[expatriot]

6. The Bush administration IS a leadership vaccuum. Starting with Bush. nt

[DeepModem Mom]

7. Kick -- lest we forget. nt

[rodeodance]

24. ok

[Eugene]

8. USA Today: GAO: government still lacks sufficient plans...

Posted 2/1/2006 10:01 AM Updated 2/1/2006 12:28 PM

Report: U.S. lacks sufficient prep for catastrophic disasters

<snip>
The Government Accountability Office also found that the government still lacks sufficient plans
and training programs to prepare for catastrophic disasters like the Aug. 29 storm that devastated
much of the Gulf Coast area.

<snip>

As a wise DUer once said, "Be prepared because Homeland Security won't be."

:kick: and recommended.

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. On another planet

a report like this would be grounds for Chertoff's immediate resignation.

Criminal charges should follow.

[Geo55]

25. Zackly......in Bush Bizzarro world , ooops my bad .

But , HEY ! , is that a TERRORIST over there ?? !!!

[Rose Siding]

10. AP: White House (BUSH) faulted

snip>
The White House had no clear chain of command in place, investigators with the Government Accountability Office said, laying much of the blame on President Bush for not designating a single official to coordinate federal decision-making for the Aug. 29 storm. Bush has accepted responsibility for the government's halting response, but for the most part then-FEMA Director Michael Brown, who quit days after the hurricane hit, has been the public face of the failures.

"That's up to the president of the United States," GAO Comptroller General David M. Walker told reporters after being asked whether Chertoff should have been the lead official during the emergency.

"It could have been Secretary Chertoff" or someone on the White House staff, Walker added. "That's up to the president."
....
"In the absence of timely and decisive action and clear leadership responsibility and accountability, there were multiple chains of command," the report found.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060202/ap_on_go_co/katrina_washington;_ylt=AkgvhSdOfhLZ41Mgy.7f3FgGw_IE;_ylu=X3oDMTA4NGRzMjRtBHNlYwMxNjk5

[rodeodance]

12. WP-Administration (Chertoff) Faulted on Katrina (blistering GAO Report)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/01/AR2006020100712_pf.html
Administration Faulted on Katrina
GAO Report Blames Bungled Response on Failures That Started at the Top

By Spencer S. Hsu and Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, February 2, 2006; A05

Responsibility for the government's bungled response to Hurricane Katrina extends widely but begins at the top of the Bush administration, which failed before the storm to name a White House, homeland security or other senior aide to take command of disaster relief, congressional investigators reported yesterday.

Four years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, administration officials did not establish a clear chain of command for the domestic emergency; disregarded early warnings of a Category 5 hurricane inundating New Orleans and southeast Louisiana; and did not ensure that cities and states had adequate plans and training before the Aug. 29 storm, according to the Government Accountability Office.

"A single individual -- directly responsible and accountable to the president of the United States -- should be dedicated to act as the central focal point to lead and coordinate the overall federal response," GAO chief David M. Walker said, summarizing the preliminary findings of 30 pending Katrina-related studies.

The blistering report contains the first assessments of the government's performance after Katrina. It is the first of a series of reviews in the coming weeks that are expected to fix blame and refocus scrutiny on the administration's handling of the nation's costliest natural disaster, which killed 1,307 people and caused more than $150 billion in damage along the Gulf Coast.
//

[rodeodance]

13. and WH still not cooperating fully says Collins Repub on Sen. committee.

Townsend is completing a White House review of what went wrong. Congressional aides expect the findings to be announced about the time Chertoff reveals the plans for retooling FEMA, probably on Feb. 13.

Members of Congress have cautioned that the White House report will not be independent and objective. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), the chairman and ranking Democrat, respectively, of a Senate Katrina investigation panel, as well as Davis, repeated criticisms that the White House is not cooperating fully. The senators asked Card to weigh the Senate findings before proposing any changes.

"If we produce separate agendas, we risk conflict and a fragmented approach," Collins and Lieberman wrote to Card on Tuesday. "But if we work together, our chances of achieving success multiply."

House Democrats, who were given an update by Rapuano last month, said the administration review has identified more than 60 flaws, including breakdowns in the new emergency National Response Plan, in federal command and control, in communications and homeland security planning, as well as an overemphasis on terrorism at the expense of natural threats.

[Cha]

14. And this is why rove didn't

give Katrina much play in the stfu.

[rodeodance]

15. katrina was like tacked on at the end --

[rodeodance]

16. cnn--Hil. C. blasted Cherkoff--Fed not ready-and chertoff blasted her

back--they reported this just a bit ago. maybe they will repeat next hour.

[rodeodance]

19. they showed a clip of her--she was animated. (good for her).

[TaleWgnDg]

17. Another BIG surprise from the GWBush White House! Indeed.

:sarcasm:

____________________________

edited to add: BTW, wasn't the Screw-up (George Walker Bush) elected on the back of John F. Kerry because "Kerry cannot protect America? Kerry is soft? Kerry stinks w/ security issues?"

And, wasn't that the same mantra used by Screw-up against Al Gore too?

Oh.

[Susan43]

18. Thanks

for posting this. I'm not at all surprised. I became interested in FEMA only during Katrina. Before then I hadn't given disaster management any thought. After all, how many of us would think to ask a candidate how much training they had in disaster management? I sure never considered it. That is why I honestly felt that yes, the mayor and governor made mistakes, but that didn't affect the rest of the country. But FEMA did.

It constantly surprises me that the right still try and put all the blame on the officials in the states. It's obvious that the federal government fell down on the job and if you've been paying attention, it took FEMA 12 days to respond to the Oklahoma fires. Imagine that, 12 days!!!

I have a timeline to the Northridge earthquake, FEMA started responding in 15 minutes.

It's so sad to see what a mess FEMA is now.

For anyone interested I'll post the link to the earthquake timeline. Check our Appendix A.

http://www.itsdocs.fhwa.dot.gov/JPODOCS/REPTS_TE/13775.html

[CottonBear]

20. Did you know that Carter was the president who founded FEMA?

And, that Carter supported the legislation that made FEMA non-partisan and that BushCo dismantled FEMA? :grr:

[Susan43]

21. Yes

I also know that it was Clinton that turned FEMA into a premier disaster agency. It is just disgusting what BushCo has done. We are all less safe now.

[CottonBear]

22. Democrats protect us Americans. Carter & Clinton did the right thing.

Bush has only worked to destroy our nation and ruin our cities and displace our people. :cry: