George Bush to blame for the New Orleans disaster?

So just yesterday I was saying that no one could reasonably blame Bush for any of this Hurricane Katrina mess.

Was I being too hasty? Perhaps so.

Somewhat shockingly, George Bush made the stupid comment today (that will doubtlessly come back to haunt him, as Eleanor Clift from Newsweek discusses here) that nobody thought the levees protecting New Orleans would break. This is not only patently false, it's an outright lie.

An article that came to my attention today at work describes how (and I've read this in other places since seeing this article; it's all a matter of public record) the Bush administration repeatedly ignored FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers when they asked for funding for protecting New Orleans from a catastrophic hurricane and for strengthening the levees to hold back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain. Not only did Bush deny the funding request, he proceeded to cut the budget's existing funding by 80% in 2004. Why? So he could funnel those funds into the unwinnable war in Iraq. There's nothing specific to back up the redirection of those funds, but it's pretty widely known that this business in Iraq has been an ungodly drain on our national financial resources.

Additionally, another article discusses how computer models as recently as last year predicted (with pretty grim accuracy, I might add) virtually everything that's been playing out in New Orleans. It goes on to say that many experts believe that shunting FEMA under the thumb of the newly created Department of Homeland Security was a major mistake. You could attribute that to the clarity of hindsight if it were only just now that this was being said, but in testimony before Congress in March 2004, a former FEMA director said the following: "I am extremely concerned that the ability of our nation to prepare for and respond to disasters has been sharply eroded. I hear from emergency managers, local and state leaders, and first responders nearly every day that the FEMA they knew and worked well with has now disappeared. In fact one state emergency manager told me, 'It is like a stake has been driven into the heart of emergency management.'"

Finally, one of the most damning articles I read was a very detailed editorial from The Denver Post. If you click on none of the other links in this blog entry, read this one. For me, the most stunning fact was this: "The key levee that failed and allowed flood waters to inundate New Orleans was scheduled to be strengthened two years ago. But funds for that and other improvements were diverted in 2003 as bills came due for the war in Iraq. Earlier this year, the Bush administration made further cuts in hurricane- and flood-control funding."

That this happened in New Orleans really hasn't come as a shock to anyone who studies such things. It's a major city, built below sea level, right in a high-risk hurricane zone, with the wetlands protecting it disappearing at a rapid rate. It wasn't a matter of whether or not this would happen -- just when. In fact, a remarkably, eerily prescient article in Scientific American outlines just what could occur if a major hurricane slammed into the New Orleans area. Much of what's mentioned is what's happening now. And instead of dealing with this head on like a competent leader, the frighteningly disconnected-from-reality Bush -- in the two days immediately following Katrina's landfall -- spent his time being on vacation, then flying to San Diego for a photo-op session.

Even a comprehensive multi-part feature in the New Orleans Times-Picayune in 2002 sounded the alarm bells at the inevitable disaster. This is a fascinating and highly recommend read, albeit a bit morbid doing it after what has happened in the past few days. It's really a dirty shame the federal government didn't take this threat seriously.

So, instead of ponying up around $250 million to reinforce and strengthen the levees that protect New Orleans over the past couple of years, now -- thanks to Bush & Co. -- American taxpayers can look forward to unloading about 100-200 times that amount, easily, to repair and rebuild a destroyed city. I grew up in Cajun Country, and even if they get the stagnant, toxic water out of there, even if they get the power back on, even if they rebuild the power grid and urban infrastructure... much of what made New Orleans such an inimitable and important part of the American landscape has been lost for a very, very long time, if not forever. I can't gauge the number of years it would take before the city is truly back. And it may never be. Many people will doubtlessly take their insurance money and leave. Their homes and jobs are gone. The city is uninhabitable and will be for many, many months. We've still got two solid months to go in one of the most active hurricane seasons in recorded history. And we may very well be witnessing, effectively, the loss of an entire major U.S. city.

And it was very likely within the power of the Bush administration to prevent it.

Wait 'till this shit hits the fan.