your village voice

Bush Takes Responsibility?

At a press conference today, US President Bush finally admits some mistakes:

Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government. And to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility. I want to know what went right and what went wrong.

I want to know how to better cooperate with state and local government, to be able to answer that very question that you asked: Are we capable of dealing with a severe attack or another severe storm. And that's a very important question. And it's in our national interest that we find out exactly what went on and -- so that we can better respond.

This said, despite how much Bush touted his Department of Homeland Security and their work in knitting the quilt between local and federal authorities earlier this year:

We've taken important steps to protect our nation's critical infrastructure -- our bridges and tunnels and nuclear power plants and water treatment facilities and the cyber networks that keep our government and our economy running.

This department has also taken action to strengthen the hand of our partners in state and local law enforcement. Local police and other authorities are those most likely to encounter terrorists. And we're giving them the tools and information they need to do their jobs. We've established secure connections to emergency operations centers in every state and every governor's office to ensure that they get threat information on a real-time basis. We've helped states establish mutual aid agreements and reasonable response plans, so that when first responders need help from their neighbors they can be sure the right assistance will get to the right people at the right time.

We've provided more than $14 billion over the last four years to train and equip state and local first responders across America. Since 2001, we've trained more than 600,000 first responders, and more than tripled spending on homeland security.

So, despite Bush's willingness to pay penance after the fact, it is very clear the Department of Homeland Security has done nothing but bloat our existing emergency system. This is a clear case of government bureaucracy dragging immediate response down.

This was just a test of the Department of Homeland Security; if it had been an actual terrorist attack involving a dirty bomb or even worse, there is little doubt they would have failed in the same way.

Bush and his Republican cronies have been telling the US public that the federal government is ineffectual, but yet they are surprised at its snail's crawl in an emergency? Face it. This administration is not making you safer. Those billions of dollars and years of empty promises are just smokescreen, a placebo for your anxiety. The harsh reality is a terrorist attack could do much worse, much easier.

posted by the prisoner @ 1:54:00 PM