There is a bigger picture here that many non-Americans may not understand. What's to understand you ask? Why didn't the world's most powerful country led by the world's most powerful man, do more. Some argue that Bush should have done more before, during and after the disaster, he should have taken complete control and he should have ordered in the military. Why didn't he? Short answer - he doesn't have the authority.
Let me explain and I'll try and be brief. Also note that I am in no way an expert on American government, I'm just an ordinary American who took a few government and civic classes in school. If any American's who are experts on our system of government and want to add or correct what I say, please do so.
America's founding fathers were ever mindful and fearful of a centralized government with a national military. As a result our government was set up with many checks and balances with shared and exclusive power from the national level down through the state and local level. Some may argue that this form of government hindered disaster preparedness and relief and no excuse will suffice. Bear with me as I hope to shed some light on this.
Who could have done what BEFORE Katrina struck?
Why didn't Bush order the evacutation of New Orleans before Katrina hit? Short answer - he had no authority to do so. That's right. President Bush does not have the power to order a mayor of a US city to evacuate their city; unless he declared martial law for the entire United States. Remember, we are talking about a country of 50 states, most of which individually are as big as the entire United Kingdom. Bush declaring martial law for the entire US when disaster struck a few states, would be somewhat like the President of the EU declaring martial law for the entire EU when a few member states were affected by a disaster. Some might argue Bush should have done just that but that is a entirely different argument and no one, at least none I've heard, wanted that.
Then why didn't the Governor of Louisiana order the evacuation of New Orleans? If I'm not mistaken, the only way he could have done that would have been to declare martial law for the entire state. Again, bear in mind that would be somewhat like Tony Blair declaring martial law for all of the UK. Perhaps the Governor should have declared martial law. That is one of the post analysis subjects we will have to wait and see on.
Ok. So who had the immediate power to order the evacuation of New Orleans? The mayor. Think of it as Ken Livingstone ordering the evacuation of London.
So, why didn't the mayor order the evacutation sooner? Good question, but you'll have to wait for his answer till after things calm down a bit. There were calls for New Orleans to be evacuated days before Katrina hit but they went un-heeded. One can only guess the mayor may have hesitated because of earlier false alarms. But we just don't know why he waited.
Well, what prompted the mayor to fianally call for the mandatory evacuation of the city? On the 28th of August, before Katrina hit the city, President Bush personally called the mayor of New Orleans and appealed to him to issue the mandatory evacuation of the city. Remember, Bush has no authority to order him to do so.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding.
And they were warned of the dire consequences.
"We are facing a storm that most of us have long feared," Nagin said.
The storm surge most likely could topple the city's levee system, which protect it from surrounding waters of Lake Pontchartrain, the Mississippi River and marshes, the mayor said. The bowl-shaped city must pump water out during normal times, and the hurricane threatened pump power.
What was the US military doing prior to Katrina's arrival? I was in the Navy for 20 years, so I know a bit about this subject. The military is always on stand by to assist in any disaster. In the days before the disaster, emergency contact rosters would have been updated, notice of leave cancellations would have been issued, supplies, stores and readiness checklist would have been completed and a review of disaster action plans would have been reviewed. In short, the military was ready when Katrina struck.
Who could have done what AFTER Katrina struck?
Well, if the military was ready BEFORE Katrina struck, why didn't Bush order the military into New Orleans after the storm hit the city? The short answer again is he had no authority to do so. Remember, the US Constitution forbids the US military from enforcing civilian law. And enforcing civilian law was the first priority to protect the rescue workers.
Right then, why did't Bush order the National Guard into the city? Again, he does not have the authority to do so. Only the Governor of the State has that authority and she had to wait for several good reasons.
First, the mayor had called for a mandatory evacuation of the city and all outgoing as well as inbound roads were being used to get people out of the city.
Second, the goal was to completely evacuate the city of every one. There is no point of putting the future rescurers in danger from the storm. This is why organizations like the Red Cross were not in the city when the storm hit - they too were ordered out.
Therefore, it isn't possible to mount rescue operations until after the disaster has struck.
And once the storm had cleared, it was obvious that this was a disaster of unprecedented magnitude - the worst the US had ever suffered. Roads were flooded, bridges were down and power and telephone services were out. All hampered relief and law enforcement personnel.
Well at this point, why didn't Bush order in the military to maintain order and provide relief supplies? Again, he had no authority to do so. Imagine a disaster of this magnitude had struck Britain. Bush ordering the military into New Orleans would be somewhat like the President of the EU ordering troops into London. But these are American citizens - human beings - that needed help. Be that as it may the Constitution puts restrictions on how the President can use the American military. The President has to wait until asked by the State and local authorities for assistance.
After the Governor ordered the National Guard into the city and began to maintain order, relief agencies and the US military were allowed to assist.
I have no doubt that in light of this disaster, government leaders from the top down will be assessing how things can be done better in the future. As in all disasters mistakes are made and lessons learned.
As I said in opening, this post isn't offered up as an excuse for anyone - including Bush. I just wanted to give those with little exposure to American government an insight into why things don't always work the way we would like them to.
How to streamline and improve disaster response in the future may involve amending the Constitution itself - a grave matter Americans take with the utmost seriousness.
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Thanks.
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