[Vision2020] Governor Blanco Begs Bush For Help Before Katrina Hit!

[Tbertruss at aol.com]

All:

There has been some flat out false nonsense presented on this list by people 
who apparently can't type appropriate search terms into Google... or perhaps 
they just can't see beyond their biases.

I wrote comments below except where I indicate the source is quoted:

Please carefully review the following FACTS:

http://gov.louisiana.gov/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=973

Friday, August 26 declaration of State of Emergency by Louisiana Governor 
Blanco.  This declaration did activate some Louisiana National Guard.

In fact, some Louisiana National Guard were in New Orleans on Sunday before 
Hurricane Katrina hit.
------------------------------------

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680.html

Senior Bush official erroneously declares Louisiana Governor Blanco had not 
declared a State of Emergency as of Saturday.  This lie is being repeated by 
various sources.
------------------------------------
Governor Blanco sends letter to President Bush requesting that he declare a 
state of emergency Sat. August 27, 2005.  This letter makes it very clear that 
Governor Blanco wants federal help, that the pending disaster may be more than 
state and local resources can cope with, and it even contains details on 
sharing funding, granting right of way, and release from damages to do requested 
work!

http://www.gov.state.la.us/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=976

------------------------------------
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050903/ap_on_re_us/katrina_national_guard

National Guard from other states were already being offered as help before 
Katrina hit, according to this source.  But rather than the slow deployment 
being Governor Blanco's fault, this source asserts Washington was the bottle neck.


I quote from the above source:

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help 
from his state's National Guard last Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina 
hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route 
didn't come from Washington until late Thursday.

One factor that may have further complicated post-Katrina deployment arose 
when Louisiana discovered it needed Guardsmen to do more law enforcement duty 
because a large portion of the New Orleans police force was not functioning, 
according to Lt. Gen. Steven H. Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau at the 
Pentagon.

--------------------------------------

The fact a large number of Louisiana and Mississippi National Guard and 
associated equipment are in Iraq is mentioned as a negative factor in the response 
to Hurricane Katrina by several knowledgeable sources quoted below:

PM Thursday, September 1, 2005 

New Orleans Disaster: Where’s the National Guard? 

NANCY LESSIN, 

mfso at mfso.org 

http://www.mfso.org
 
Lessin is a founder of Military Families Speak Out. She said today: 

"The numbers we have are that there are 11,000 National Guard personnel 
from Louisiana, of whom about 3,000 are in Iraq with most of the heavy 
equipment. This included generators and high-water and other vehicles 
which could assist with the rescue effort." 

She added: "My daughter is in New Orleans in a hotel with no plumbing 
and no electricity. Meanwhile, the residents of New Orleans -- 
particularly working and/or poor people -- do not appear to be having 
the rescue attempts that they desperately need right now." 
----------------------------------------------  
PHILIP CROWLEY 

pjcrowley at americanprogress.org, 

or via Jay Heidbrink

<A HREF="http://by106fd.bay106.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/compose?curmbox=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&a=a7e5a3abeb5b6a0625bb45e354a7149a28f23d809928c8561c13bb3cff1229bd&mailto=1&to=jheidbrink@americanprogress.org&msg=DD6AE9EC-0DD1-44B0-BB9B-44D17E8CE82Cjheidbrink@americanprogress.org] 
   
Senior fellow and director of national defense and homeland security 
at the Center for American Progress, Crowley organized the conference 
"Transforming the Reserve Component for the 21st Century" in September 
2004.

http://www.kintera.org/htmlcontent.asp?cid=40075 
   
He said today: "What Katrina brings home is the reality we are 
pulling the Guard in several directions. ... Given the additional 
strains of Iraq and Afghanistan, right now, the National Guard [at home] 
only has about half the equipment it normally would." 
-----------------------------------

Vision2020 Post by Ted Moffett
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