washingtonpost.com— As the winds and water of Hurricane Katrina were receding, presidential confidante Karen Hughes sent a cable from her State Department office to U.S. ambassadors worldwide.
Apr 29, 2007View in Crawl 4
I'm sure he had a good reason for turning it down, but the good reason had nothing to do with the needs of the people in New Orleans. Lesson: Don't depend or expect the government to help or save you.
I'm sorry, letting your people suffer when there is aid available to you from previously established and long time allies is not a smart decision. I think its insane that you would consider it to be one. You are using pride and foolishness as a justification for the suffering of your own. All to maintain an image of being do-it-yourselfers, meanwhile the entire world could see the absolute mess that the region was in and how terribly it was being handled which does more to make you look bad then help from your friends would, how stupid!
"I don't really care very much what I'm called. I'm much more interested in having people thinking about the ideas, rather than the person." Milton Friedman
And since WE are too STUPID (both parties guilty here) to accept foreign help, then we need to stop offering it too. When we learn to play in the big sand box, then offer aide.
Maybe Halliburton did dynamite the levies and their buddies in the White House kept aid away because they didn't want anyone nearby that could identify the signs of such a black op. They did get the no-bid contract to rebuild Louisiana (which they're not really doing, despite cashing checks). The whole US ports and Dubai was pretty weird, too.All I know is that, like everything that this 'administration' touches, it turned to major s**t and a lot of innocents got hurt.
Yeah, Bush hates black people so much that he just extended their free rent until March 2009.Now THAT is hatred.One last question, do you buy your tin foil hats already made or do you make them yourselves? Scary.
This is a world of limited resources and infinite need. The US was not hit so badly that we "needed" this stuff more then people in Indonesia, Dafur, etc.Its like getting big gifts to cover your healthcare bill even though you have enough to pay for it - while down the hall a guy is bankrupt
Of the listed aid we turned down only the Swiss and British offered anything we could use. Our cell phones do not all work under the system offered by Germany, the assistance from the French would require metric to US standard conversions which would create a logistical nightmare. Rebuilding requires far more than just grabbing parts from wherever you can get them. The same issue plagues Afghanistan and Iraq, much of their infrastructure used Russian and German equipment, which is not compatible with US manufactured gear.Before people get on the bandwagon they need to look at the longterm results of jumping to conclusions. If we were to use French pumps in the Katrina affected area we'd be dependant on the French manufactures for the duration of their use. Ironic using French machinery in the French quarter but I digress.
Just a personal observation . . . as I watched the news coverage of the massive flooding in the Midwest with over 100 blocks of the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa under water, levees breaking, and the attention now turned downstream for when this massive amount of water hits the Mississippi, what amazed me is not what we saw,butwhat we didn't see . . .1 . We don't see looting .2 . We don't see street violence .3 . We don't see people sitting on their rooftops waiting for the government to come and save them .4 . We don't see people waiting on the government to do anything .5 . We don't see Hollywood organizing benefits to raise money for people to rebuild .6 . We don't see people blaming President Bush .7 . We don't see people ignoring evacuation orders .8 . We don't see people blaming a government conspiracy to blow up the levees as the reason some have not held .9 . We don't see the US Senators or the Governor of Iowa crying on TV .10 . We don't see the Mayors of any of these cities complaining about the lack of state or federal response .11 . We don't see or hear reports of the police going around confiscating personal firearms so only the criminal will be armed .12 . We don't see gangs of people going around and randomly shooting at the rescue workers .13 . You don't see some leaders in this country blaming the bad behavior of the Iowa flood victims on "society" (of course there is no wide spread reports of lawlessness to require excuses) . Re: Iowa vs . Louisiana : Where are all of the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons asking forhelp in restoring Iowa and helping the folks affected by the floods?Where is all the media asking the tough questions about why the federalgovernment hasn't solved the problem? Asking where the FEMA trucks (andtrailers) are?Why isn't the Federal Government relocating Iowa people to free hotelsin Chicago ?When will Spike Lee say that the Federal Government blew up the leveesthat failed in Des Moines ?Where are Sean Penn and the Dixie Chicks?Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis shoes and big screentelevision sets?When will we hear Governor Chet Culver say that he wants to rebuild a"vanilla" Iowa , because that's the way God wants it?Where is the hysterical 24/7 media coverage complete with reports ofcannibalism?Where are the people declaring that George Bush hates white, ruralpeople?How come in 2 weeks, you will never hear about the Iowa flooding everagain?
sergionegroApr 29, 2007Submitter
Your administration at work.
1013Apr 29, 2007
I'm sure he had a good reason for turning it down, but the good reason had nothing to do with the needs of the people in New Orleans. Lesson: Don't depend or expect the government to help or save you.
apetrieApr 29, 2007
I'm sorry, letting your people suffer when there is aid available to you from previously established and long time allies is not a smart decision. I think its insane that you would consider it to be one. You are using pride and foolishness as a justification for the suffering of your own. All to maintain an image of being do-it-yourselfers, meanwhile the entire world could see the absolute mess that the region was in and how terribly it was being handled which does more to make you look bad then help from your friends would, how stupid!
kmack928Apr 29, 2007
"I don't really care very much what I'm called. I'm much more interested in having people thinking about the ideas, rather than the person." Milton Friedman
swordedgeApr 29, 2007
And since WE are too STUPID (both parties guilty here) to accept foreign help, then we need to stop offering it too. When we learn to play in the big sand box, then offer aide.
laserblazerApr 30, 2007
Maybe Halliburton did dynamite the levies and their buddies in the White House kept aid away because they didn't want anyone nearby that could identify the signs of such a black op. They did get the no-bid contract to rebuild Louisiana (which they're not really doing, despite cashing checks). The whole US ports and Dubai was pretty weird, too.All I know is that, like everything that this 'administration' touches, it turned to major s**t and a lot of innocents got hurt.
hittnrunApr 30, 2007
Yeah, Bush hates black people so much that he just extended their free rent until March 2009.Now THAT is hatred.One last question, do you buy your tin foil hats already made or do you make them yourselves? Scary.
grabercApr 30, 2007
This is a world of limited resources and infinite need. The US was not hit so badly that we "needed" this stuff more then people in Indonesia, Dafur, etc.Its like getting big gifts to cover your healthcare bill even though you have enough to pay for it - while down the hall a guy is bankrupt
dodger6Apr 30, 2007
Of the listed aid we turned down only the Swiss and British offered anything we could use. Our cell phones do not all work under the system offered by Germany, the assistance from the French would require metric to US standard conversions which would create a logistical nightmare. Rebuilding requires far more than just grabbing parts from wherever you can get them. The same issue plagues Afghanistan and Iraq, much of their infrastructure used Russian and German equipment, which is not compatible with US manufactured gear.Before people get on the bandwagon they need to look at the longterm results of jumping to conclusions. If we were to use French pumps in the Katrina affected area we'd be dependant on the French manufactures for the duration of their use. Ironic using French machinery in the French quarter but I digress.
theotherjohnJun 28, 2008
Just a personal observation . . . as I watched the news coverage of the massive flooding in the Midwest with over 100 blocks of the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa under water, levees breaking, and the attention now turned downstream for when this massive amount of water hits the Mississippi, what amazed me is not what we saw,butwhat we didn't see . . .1 . We don't see looting .2 . We don't see street violence .3 . We don't see people sitting on their rooftops waiting for the government to come and save them .4 . We don't see people waiting on the government to do anything .5 . We don't see Hollywood organizing benefits to raise money for people to rebuild .6 . We don't see people blaming President Bush .7 . We don't see people ignoring evacuation orders .8 . We don't see people blaming a government conspiracy to blow up the levees as the reason some have not held .9 . We don't see the US Senators or the Governor of Iowa crying on TV .10 . We don't see the Mayors of any of these cities complaining about the lack of state or federal response .11 . We don't see or hear reports of the police going around confiscating personal firearms so only the criminal will be armed .12 . We don't see gangs of people going around and randomly shooting at the rescue workers .13 . You don't see some leaders in this country blaming the bad behavior of the Iowa flood victims on "society" (of course there is no wide spread reports of lawlessness to require excuses) . Re: Iowa vs . Louisiana : Where are all of the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons asking forhelp in restoring Iowa and helping the folks affected by the floods?Where is all the media asking the tough questions about why the federalgovernment hasn't solved the problem? Asking where the FEMA trucks (andtrailers) are?Why isn't the Federal Government relocating Iowa people to free hotelsin Chicago ?When will Spike Lee say that the Federal Government blew up the leveesthat failed in Des Moines ?Where are Sean Penn and the Dixie Chicks?Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis shoes and big screentelevision sets?When will we hear Governor Chet Culver say that he wants to rebuild a"vanilla" Iowa , because that's the way God wants it?Where is the hysterical 24/7 media coverage complete with reports ofcannibalism?Where are the people declaring that George Bush hates white, ruralpeople?How come in 2 weeks, you will never hear about the Iowa flooding everagain?