The terrorist named Hurricane Katrina: Don’t tell me about homeland security!
By Bill Fletcher, Jr.

With at least two days notice, the Federal government and the State government of Louisiana demonstrated their near total incompetence in preparing for a devastating hurricane and in carrying out stabilization and rescue following the storm. Could a terrorist attack have been worse than the destruction of several cities and the transformation of their populations into destitute refugees seeking food, water and shelter? For all the talk about preparing for the next Al Qaeda assault, how could the Bush administration have been so totally unprepared to respond immediately in the face of a disaster on the scale of Katrina? Why would it take days to get massive levels of emergency assistance into an area following such a disaster?

Not only were they unprepared, but their response was both verbally convoluted and piece-meal. Even the governor of Louisiana bitterly, though diplomatically, complained about the lack of air support immediately following the storm. Yet, since the fall of 2001, we have been told, time and again, that the USA must be prepared for new terrorist assaults and that government must be restructured to face this crisis.

Well, a terrorist attacked and her name was Katrina.

To add insult to injury, in the aftermath of the storm, some in the government and the media have chosen to focus an inordinate amount of time on looters, with “looters” almost always defined visually as African Americans. It has become so blatant that an email has been circulating on the Internet for several days showing that when white individuals are taking food and other supplies, they are portrayed sympathetically, whereas anything in the hands of an African American leads to the almost immediate identification of them as looters.

Where is the support that New York received following 9/11? There has been an outpouring of personal support by people across the USA, but at the level of the Bush administration there is no real sense of urgency, or a clear enough sense of the scale of what is unfolding. Added to that, discussions about forgetting about rebuilding New Orleans are nothing short of cruel, cavalier remarks that would be inconceivable if Laguna Hills, CA fell into the sea after the next earthquake.

There is an immediate need for:

• The creation of a “Works Projects Administration”-like structure to put to work unemployed people on the Gulf Coast to participate in the reconstruction of their homes, businesses and lives.
  
  
• The establishment of a special unemployment fund modeled on the Trade Adjustment Assistance that provides income for the period during which the reconstruction is underway. Such a fund should also provide for support in food and medical assistance.
  
  
• A cessation of the biased reporting on the disaster.
  
  
• An end to the calls for shooting looters, and an emphasis on recovering survivors.
  
  
• The deployment of environmental teams to assess the environment devastation and to work with local groups in addressing the special needs in reconstruction in light of toxins floating through the entire area.
  
  
• A reconstruction plan for the region that is developed in consultation with the people most affected by this disaster and is focused on restoring their livelihoods.
  
  
• For those who think that nothing can be done, they must gain heart and stamina. Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath display the true picture of Bush’s USA. The cutbacks in funds to the Army Corp of Engineers that might have helped secure the levees; an administration that is more focused on prosecuting an illegal war and occupation in Iraq than addressing the needs of its own people; the continued racial segregation of this country; and the almost continuous demonization of African Americans.

Something must be done and it must be done now!