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Israel to provide US with Hurricane Aid

19 years ago
68 Comments
by ck
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Israeli governmental and non-governmental organizations are poised to offer theUS disaster relief assistance in light of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, announcing that a delegation of government experts would leave this week to determine areas in which Israel could help the relief effort in hurricane-stricken Gulf Coast stated

The United States has stood at Israel’s side through difficult times, and I believe it our duty to help her in those spheres in which we can be of assistance.

A delegation made up of experts from the Defense and Health ministries is set to leave for the US shortly. Israel21c has also pointed out other areas where Israel has offered assistance:

An Israeli organization has also offered to help in one of the grimmest and most difficult tasks -removing the dead bodies currently strewn in the city streets. A group of Israeli Zaka volunteers in the United States is preparing to travel to New Orleans in order to aid in body identification and removal in the stricken areas … The volunteers will operate under the command of Chief of Louisiana Police, Colonel Henry Witthorn. Zaka has great experience in this area, with volunteers who have undergone rigorous training arriving on the scene minutes after any terror attack in Israel.

Furthermore, Israel’s 5 universities in partnership with the Jewish Agency and Hillel, have offered to welcome students from the area whose studies have been hampered by the hurricane.

In particular, medical students unable to attend the Tulane University in New Orleans can attend Tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Medicine, UPI reported.

Any college student from the Gulf area affected by the storm may apply late for the University’s Lowy School for Overseas Students, which is waiving deadlines and some requirements to make room for Katrina’s victims.

Uh Michael? What you still doin’ in Wisconsin? For further details on these and other efforts, visit Israel21c by clicking here.

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Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.

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68 Comments

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  • She declared an emergency. The news broadcasts were clear. Bush stayed on vacation 2 more days and FEMA only went into action as the storm began. Homeland Security proved to be anything but. Rumsfeld was watching baseball; Cheney vacationed and house shopped. There weren’t enough National Guard members around and they didn’t show up until after Bush showed up.

    But don’t worry, Bush has promised to investigate this himself. 😆

    Hello Sri Lanka!

    There was a story in the NY Times today about how a military helicopter pilot who together with another one saved 110 people was reprimanded and then sent for a “break” from flying duties so he can tend to the kennel of the base. The pilot told the Times that he was shocked at how few rescue vessels and operations he saw through the course of an entire day of flying over NO.

  • Your case is already breaking down. Look at the mandatory evacuation that the mayor wants to do and what the gov is doing. When all is said and done, legally she bares the responcibility and she failed. She’s still failing and is going to block the mandatory evacuation, or so she’s threatened.

  • Uh, Joel, I ain’t a Democrat. Sorry. Your case is seriously flawed, as the coming months will reveal. As for the articles, you say tomato and I say tomato.

  • Middle, you’re missing the fact that everything, including the articles, is opinion without legal backing. I’ve presented my case and it’s solid. The law simply doesn’t allow for what you’re asking about. THe articles are opinion and rage, not law. You, like other people who are ruining the Democratic party, are thinking with emotions and not intellect. 🙂

  • Joel, bringing you articles isn’t a bad thing, it’s a good thing. Read the articles and you’ll see that your blanket excuse just doesn’t wash.

    I’ve provided you with ample evidence that bringing in aid was doable by the government and perfectly legal. If they chose to joust about authority – a story that is now coming out about how they argued with LA governor about jurisdiction – then that is unfortunate and childish and has nothing to do with the constitution and everything to do with incompetence.

    If they chose to go to a baseball game when they should have been spearheading a relief effort, that has nothing to do with posse comitatus and everything to do with nonchalance.

    If they chose not to send in a ship that was right there with fresh water, medical supplies and hospital beds, that has nothing to do with the constitution and everything to do with lack of awareness of the gravity of the situation as well as a functioning system with which to alleviate the situation.

    If the head of FEMA is unaware of the situation, as we’ve learned from his interviews, and the agency is turning away help while proving itself entirely unable to cope with a crisis about which they had advanced warning, then this has nothing to do with the constitution because this is FEMA’s mandate, and everything to do with incompetence.

    If in 1992, Bush Pere was able to federalize the National Guard, in 2005 Bush Fils could have done the same.

    If Michael Chertoff, head of Homeland Security, is unaware of the situation, as it seems he was, and his agency which was created with the specific goal of protecting against terror and NATURAL disasters, was unable to provide assistance, secure the area, assist FEMA and save people, then the promises made and billions spent were empty and wasted. Posse comitatus existed when Homeland Security was created, and there have been plenty of lawyers looking into this because the new agency received some significant powers. This is not about having the right to enter New Orleans, this is about ill-preparedness.

    Pure and simple, they weren’t ready. When the event took place, they weren’t able to assess and act. After the event took place, they were too slow to move and did not move in sufficient numbers or quantities or speed.

    Now they are full of excuses, and the key one which you parrot is that they didn’t have the right to move. Sorry, but that’s bullshit.

    In fact, the Administration has been trying to promote this lie as you can see in this Washington Post report.

    “Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.”

    Now we all know that it’s probably Rove spinning, right? But that “senior official” was lying.

    “A Sept. 4 article on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina incorrectly said that Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) had not declared a state of emergency. She declared an emergency on Aug. 26.”

    Bush was on vacation on August 26.

    Asinine indeed.

  • Tulane University in New Orleans has been flooded as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

    All Israeli Universities have responded positively to this Jewish Agency initiative and will accept students by an accelerated procedure for the new academic year.

    Thousands of students including 2,000 Jewish students from the disaster stricken New Orleans area will be able to continue their studies in Israel as part of an initiative of the Jewish Agency for them to study IN ENGLISH in programs for overseas students offered by Israeli universities.

    In co-operation with Hillel – The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life and the United Jewish Communities (UJC) – The Federations of North America, the Jewish Agency has approached all the Jewish Communities in America with the goal of locating students at Tulane University to offer them the alternative opportunity of studying in Israel. Tulane University has been flooded and courses are cancelled. The offer to come study in Israel has been extended to all denominations!!!

    This week all Israeli Universities (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Haifa University. Bar Ilan University, Ben Gurion University) responded positively to the request of the Jewish Agency to expedite the registration of students from New Orleans wishing to study in Israel.

    Courses are taught in English and Hebrew Language Learning courses (Ulpan) will also be made available.

    As of today contact has been made with many students from the New Orleans area and TWENTY students have already shown interest in coming to study in Israel.

    The Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Zeev Bielski said: “This is first and foremost an initiative which stems from the comradeship and shared destiny between the citizens of Israel and the citizens of the USA. In addition to the academic gain, we are sure that the time spent in Israel will afford these students a meaningful experience for the rest of their lives and they will quickly become the best ambassadors for the State of Israel in the world”.

    For further information CONTACT:
    Michael Jankelowitz
    Liaison to Foreign Press
    Jewish Agency for Israel
    Cell: +972-50-7601706
    Voicemail: +972-2-6202780
    e-mail: [email protected]
    website: http://www.jafi.org.il/press

  • Oh, and as for the press conference, so what? He is the mouth of an idiot, do you expect to hear anything intelligent from him? Likewise, lest you go their way, I suggest you actually study up on the law concerning federal troops during a disaster. Also, look up what the national guard can do. You are blaming the federal government for keeping the constitution…the one time the administration has done this…oh the irony.

  • Middle, you’re ignoring all the laws and appealing to articles that have nothing to do with any law out there. Again, you continue to ignore them. The federal law, including posse comitatus prohibit the federal government from sending in the federal military and national guard on domestic issues. Bush declared the areas disaster areas which mean the gov’s were open and free to request the national guard and military, however neither could act until the Gov’s requested their help. This is basic Constitutional law 101. Has FEMA failed? Absolutely. But it is not solely to blame and it’s failure occurs after the Mayor and Gov’s failure. All levels of government, from the state to the White House failed in come capacity. However, to say it’s Bush’s fault or Rumsfeld’s fault for not sending in the national guard is plain ignorance. Legally they couldn’t send in the national guard and legally the federal government can’t take control of the situation unless requested by the state authorities.
    Once again, you keep blaming Bush, but what about the 500+ busses still sitting in New Orleans? What about the fact the Gov didn’t request the national guard until two to three days after the disaster occured? Rumsfeld was eating hot dogs…so what? There’s nothing else he could have done. YOu have yet to make a legal case for your asinine claims.

  • Oops, could be that Rumsfeld didn’t send the troops in not because of the CONSTITUTION, but because he was having some hot dogs and lemonade.

    Source

    Revealed: Rumsfeld at Padres Ball Game As New Orleans Sank

    By E&P Staff

    Published: September 06, 2005 9:30 PM ET

    NEW YORK

    “The seemingly carefree behavior of top Bush administration officials early last week, who stuck to their vacations as tens of thousands cried for help in New Orleans, gained another twist with revelations that Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld was taking in a ball game in San Diego last Monday night–about 24 hours after Katrina hit.”

  • This article is from Saturday, days after they were needed. Notice that they are able to distinguish between taking over law enforcement and humanitarian aid. So why couldn’t they do this earlier?

    Federal troops get limited role in Katrina work By Will Dunham
    Sat Sep 3, 4:47 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon said on Saturday it will carefully limit the role of 7,200 federal troops heading into chaotic New Orleans and other places hit by Hurricane Katrina to avoid violating a law barring them from domestic law enforcement duties.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    “They will not take on a law enforcement role nor have they been directed in any way to do so,” said Lt. Gen. Joseph Inge, deputy commander of U.S. Northern Command, which oversees the military relief effort.

    For the first time since Katrina devastated New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana and Mississippi on Monday, President George W. Bush on Saturday ordered in a large influx of regular military troops — 5,200 Army active-duty Army soldiers and 2,000 Marines.

    Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief of the Pentagon’s National Guard Bureau, also announced that an additional 10,000 National Guard troops will stream into the region in the next three to four days, bringing the total of these troops to 40,000.

    A total of 54,000 military personnel are now committed to relief efforts.

    The military relief effort until now has been primarily handled by part-time National Guard troops under the command of state governors. Under law, they are permitted to perform law enforcement duties at a governor’s command.

    The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, enacted during the post-Civil War reconstruction period, prohibits federal military personnel from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States. But the president can waive the law in an emergency.

    Asked whether Bush might waive the law, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, “We continue to consider the full range of options.”

    Inge said the Marines and Army soldiers will concentrate on providing humanitarian assistance to Katrina victims. But asked whether they could perform tasks like crowd control and site protection, Inge said, “That’s correct. Probably not too much crowd control because you run the edge of law enforcement there.”

    “But I anticipate that their main effort will be providing relief to suffering so that any type of thing that smacks of law enforcement can be done by the National Guard,” Inge said.

  • Joel,

    From this article in Slate:

    “The Katrina relief effort includes military assistance, but it is not martial law. National Guard units are acting under the direction of governors, and federal troops are providing humanitarian relief. Neither of these violates Posse Comitatus. While martial law has not been imposed, a state of emergency has been declared in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, signaling that some civil liberties, such as the right to congregate, may be limited because of extreme conditions.”

    The Posse Comitatus act forbids the military from taking over civilian law enforcement. It does not prohibit providing assistance or humanitarian aid.

  • Fran, I don’t have the benefit of evacuating prior to hurricanes. I did, however, lose a house when I was seven years old due to a tornado. It took three days for the national guard to come in and restore structure and order because our Gov delayed in requesting them. We had no city structure for four days but no one covered us, no one came into our city to cry out how we had been screwed out of help. Regardless, I know FEMA very well and how the rules and regulations opperate and Middle’s argumenation and wishes violate the law. As for me ever having to evacuate, I personally have not, however my cousins and aunts that live in Florida have needed to many times. It isn’t an easy ordeal, I understand that.

    Middle, it’s becomming more and more clear that you haven’t studied the Constitution, much less made a brief reading of it. I’m not saying this as an insult, but just an explanation. I also wonder if you read what you linked me to. The third paragraph explains how the Gov did not request the national guard help in time. Again, what law says that the Federal Government can send in the national guard without the state requesting it? What law states this? Ignoring FEMA’s shortcommings (even if they did know they couldn’t have done anything because the Superdome was a state issue…a city issue), why do you attempt to blame people who had no power over the situation? You say Rumsfield didn’t want to involve the military. There is a very distinct reason for that. posse comitatus prohibits the military from getting involved because it is a non-military issue. Thankfully, per the Gov’s request, the Feds were able to send in the military. Again, you’re avoiding the issue and attempting to make a faulty emotional appeal. Why didn’t the mayor bus the people out? Why didn’t the gov request national guardsmen before the disaster instead of three days after? You’re asking the federal government to violate laws and the constitution…which is dangerous.

    Again, why are you accusing me of spin when I voted against Bush and disagree highly with him. If anything, this is the first time he’s stood up for the constitution…he should be applauded for finally upholding his oath.

  • Oy, gimme a break.

    From MSNBC:

    In 1992, Bush Pere “federalized” the National Guard because of the riots in L.A.

    Chertoff said he didn’t know.

    Brown said he didn’t know.

    Condi was shoe shopping.

    Rumsfeld didn’t want to involve the military even though there was a ship offshore with fresh water, space and hospital beds.

    This is not about the constitution, it’s about gross incompetence. “Excuse me but when the extreme Muslims blew up that dirty bomb in [fill in the city of your choice], we weren’t able to send in assistance because [fill in your favorite spin: constitution; didn’t know; other agency responsible; the governor; the mayor].”

    Or we could be honest and say, “We cut the funding; we killed the agency; we are incompetent; we wasted taxpayer money with this mythical “homeland security” department; we appoint cronies to important positions; we don’t believe government can have effective agencies anyway; if there’s more damage, there’s more money in the pot for Halliburton and other friends to do the clean-up; etc., etc.

  • Joel, I wonder, have you ever had to evacuate from an impending hurricane, especially a metropolitan area? I’m asking this in all honesty, not criticism.

  • Middle, you’re ignoring the fact that everything you and the paper are calling for violated the constitution. It’s not that hard, the paper…especially an editorial staff…is rarely accurate on facts. They’re pissed off becaues they weren’t ready and they’re mayor dropped the ball big time. Explain to me how the federal government was suppose to solve this matter when all the laws, specifically the supreme law of the land, prohibit it from doing so. Is the constitution part of Bush’s spinning machine?

  • Well, I will answer you, as is my wont, in the words of Jamaica’s Heavyweight Rockers, the Black Uhuru:

    “If tomorrow I was leaving to Zion, then I wouldn’t stay a minute more.”

    So I’m going to Israel, I think.

  • Micheal, what are your plans now? Heading back to Israel for the semster or checking out the higher learning opportunities in Wisconsin?

  • Source

    Hurricane Center Director Tells Paper He Briefed Brown and Chertoff on Danger of Severe Flooding

    By E&P Staff

    Published: September 04, 2005 6:55 PM ET

    NEW YORK Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, told the Times-Picayune Sunday afternoon that officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, including FEMA Director Mike Brown and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, listened in on electronic briefings given by his staff in advance of Hurricane Katrina slamming Louisiana and Mississippi–and were advised of the storm’s potential deadly effects.

    “Mayfield said the strength of the storm and the potential disaster it could bring were made clear during both the briefings and in formal advisories, which warned of a storm surge capable of overtopping levees in New Orleans and winds strong enough to blow out windows of high-rise buildings,” the paper reported. “He said the briefings included information on expected wind speed, storm surge, rainfall and the potential for tornados to accompany the storm as it came ashore.

    “We were briefing them way before landfall,” Mayfield said. “It’s not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped.”

    Chertoff told reporters Saturday that government officials had not expected the damaging combination of a powerful hurricane levee breaches that flooded New Orleans.

  • Just so you know the TA program they are opening up I guess is the american program…Israeli’s can’t enter it.

  • Joel,

    The Times-Picayune is Louisiana’s largest newspaper and is based in New Orleans. The letter is an open letter from the newspaper and its editors to the President. I suspect they have a better handle on the facts than you or Bush and his spin machine. I say that with all due respect, but reread their letter. They are angry and it isn’t at nature.

  • I think you might be expecting too much. He is not G-d after all.

  • Well to be quite honest whoever wrote that open letter/editorial is a person that is absolutely ignorant of the facts.
    To address first the “accessability” of the city…how does one drive into a city that is essentially underwater? While the person adequately points out that certain reporters were in the area (though many were there to begin with simply to cover the storm) it is easier for one person to get into the city than to bring 1,000+ people into the city. The reason for this is simple; logistics. There were only a few entry points that could handle the entrance of so many troops. Imagine trying to put a 300 pound person through a 3 ft wide door as opposed to putting a 95 pound child through a 3ft wide door. This is why it is easier for individuals to get in as opposed to 3,000 troops. The person that wrote the article obviously didn’t take this into consideration. Likewise, what they didn’t take into consideration either is that the Gov, per Constitutional law, is the one that has to request the national guard and also put them in place. That is not the job of the federal government but instead the state governments. THus any problem with the national guard, to find the blame, one merely needs to look to the state government.
    As for Mayor Nagin, the man should be the one that bears the blame. By putting people in the convention center and the dome was the worst possible idea and plan to impliment. Again, I point to the fact that there were (no longer usable as they’re under water) 500+ busses that the Mayor refused to use to evacuate the city.

    Again, this is not a federal issue. The constitution limits what the federal government can do when deploying the military, specifically the national guard, inside the US borders. The editorial is flawed from the get go in assuming that the federal government had the priority. This is a federalist republic. When something occurs within a state the main responsibility for planning falls upon the state. The federal government, according to the constitution and laws, can only offer aid and assistance and cannot control the situation unless requested by the Gov of the state. Likewise, New Orleans had no evacuation plan for what they knew was comming. USA today put an article out in June of 2002 speaking about how a hurricane was comming and New Orleans was not prepared. They did nothing to remedy this situation.

    Before you get any ideas that I’m a Bush supporter, I voted for Kerry and I’m a life long liberal democract. I simply don’t like it when people play the blame game when it doesn’t need to be played. The city failed, the state failed, and FEMA failed. Everybody has failed, so why are we attempting to point one person out? Why do we have to have a scape goat? It was the worst national disaster to ever occur in the US even without New Orleans flooding. The blame can be put on the weather, there is no one person or organization to blame. To do so is to ignore the facts and to really bring out the worst in human nature.

    Again, FEMA is an aid to state government and is not meant to run natural disaster situations.

  • Joel, the New Orleans Times Picayune published this editorial today:

    We heard you loud and clear Friday when you visited our devastated city and the Gulf Coast and said, “What is not working, we’re going to make it right.”

    Please forgive us if we wait to see proof of your promise before believing you. But we have good reason for our skepticism.

    Bienville built New Orleans where he built it for one main reason: It’s accessible. The city between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain was easy to reach in 1718.

    How much easier it is to access in 2005 now that there are interstates and bridges, airports and helipads, cruise ships, barges, buses and diesel-powered trucks.

    Despite the city’s multiple points of entry, our nation’s bureaucrats spent days after last week’s hurricane wringing their hands, lamenting the fact that they could neither rescue the city’s stranded victims nor bring them food, water and medical supplies.

    Meanwhile there were journalists, including some who work for The Times-Picayune, going in and out of the city via the Crescent City Connection. On Thursday morning, that crew saw a caravan of 13 Wal-Mart tractor trailers headed into town to bring food, water and supplies to a dying city.

    Television reporters were doing live reports from downtown New Orleans streets. Harry Connick Jr. brought in some aid Thursday, and his efforts were the focus of a “Today” show story Friday morning.

    Yet, the people trained to protect our nation, the people whose job it is to quickly bring in aid were absent. Those who should have been deploying troops were singing a sad song about how our city was impossible to reach.

    We’re angry, Mr. President, and we’ll be angry long after our beloved city and surrounding parishes have been pumped dry. Our people deserved rescuing. Many who could have been were not. That’s to the government’s shame.

    Mayor Ray Nagin did the right thing Sunday when he allowed those with no other alternative to seek shelter from the storm inside the Louisiana Superdome. We still don’t know what the death toll is, but one thing is certain: Had the Superdome not been opened, the city’s death toll would have been higher. The toll may even have been exponentially higher.

    It was clear to us by late morning Monday that many people inside the Superdome would not be returning home. It should have been clear to our government, Mr. President. So why weren’t they evacuated out of the city immediately? We learned seven years ago, when Hurricane Georges threatened, that the Dome isn’t suitable as a long-term shelter. So what did state and national officials think would happen to tens of thousands of people trapped inside with no air conditioning, overflowing toilets and dwindling amounts of food, water and other essentials?

    State Rep. Karen Carter was right Friday when she said the city didn’t have but two urgent needs: “Buses! And gas!” Every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be fired, Director Michael Brown especially.

    In a nationally televised interview Thursday night, he said his agency hadn’t known until that day that thousands of storm victims were stranded at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. He gave another nationally televised interview the next morning and said, “We’ve provided food to the people at the Convention Center so that they’ve gotten at least one, if not two meals, every single day.”

    Lies don’t get more bald-faced than that, Mr. President.

    Yet, when you met with Mr. Brown Friday morning, you told him, “You’re doing a heck of a job.”

    That’s unbelievable.

    There were thousands of people at the Convention Center because the riverfront is high ground. The fact that so many people had reached there on foot is proof that rescue vehicles could have gotten there, too.

    We, who are from New Orleans, are no less American than those who live on the Great Plains or along the Atlantic Seaboard. We’re no less important than those from the Pacific Northwest or Appalachia. Our people deserved to be rescued.

    No expense should have been spared. No excuses should have been voiced. Especially not one as preposterous as the claim that New Orleans couldn’t be reached.

    Mr. President, we sincerely hope you fulfill your promise to make our beloved communities work right once again.

    When you do, we will be the first to applaud.

  • Also, one thing I forgot to add is that FEMA is to assist in disaster relief and not run the organization of the disaster relief. At least, that’s how it’s worked when we’ve been hit by disasters. Thus, to blame FEMA for not “doing enough” is inevitably blaming the state government, because FEMA can really only react with the power delegated to it by the state it is opperating in.

  • The middle…FEMA had supplies ready to go two days before the disaster. They couldn’t get in due to rising flood waters and yes, anarchy. It always, in every natural disaster, takes the federal government about 48 hours to get on the ground and providing structure. I live in a Tornado disaster area and I can attest to this, it takes about 48 hours. In all hurricanes in the past it took 48 hours. The disaster occured late Monday night to early Tuesday evening (when the levees broke). By late Thursday night the federal government was there.

    Fact is, errors were made at the federal, state, and local level. However, to blame the entire federal government, or Bush (who declared the area a disaster area two days before the storm hit), is ignoring all of the facts.

    Seriously, tell me, how do you put all the relief within a 6 hour drive of New Orleans and Mississippi? Where do you put all the aid for an area the size of Great Britian? YOu can’t put the Navy/Coast Guard on the coast because the storm is comming. You can’t place aid within 12 hours of the projected disaster area because if you do you run the risk of your aid getting hit by the storm. The federal government did almost everything it could (and failed later in the week) to prepare for this disaster. IF you want to blame someone, look to the Gov who didn’t ask the National Guard to come in until Thursday/Friday. If you want to blame someone then blame the Mayor who didn’t order the evacuation until it was too late and on top of all that didn’t use the 500+ public busses New Orleans has to get people out.

    Blaming just one branch of government ignores the bigger picture of this issue. FEMA made mistakes, but it’s mistakes come after the mistakes of the City and State governments.

  • Six universities; The Open university is a credible and important facility in Israeli academia. There are also dozens of legit and established prestigious colleges that are certified to give out bachelors and masters degrees.

    As for the TA medical school welcoming American med students, I think it’s BS. Israelis are forced to leave the country to go learn overseas in Europe of North America because Israeli med schools purposely limit capacity and enrollment, but suddenly they found more space?

    Another suppresed issue is that Israel created its own refugee situation only a few weeks ago and is not handling it half as serious as the publicity that is being generated by various aid organizations. Just incredible.

  • FEMA is not a victim of terrorists. It’s a victim of ideology and the cynicism of those in power.

    I’m presuming your second paragraph is sarcastic because if they can’t handle this, how will they handle a surprise attack?

  • Blame it on the terrorists. Since 9/11 FEMA lost its cabinet-level status as it was rolled into the new Department of Homeland Security. FEMA has since suffered budget cuts each year since it was absorbed by Homeland Security in 2003, key programs have been cut or eliminated and experienced staffers have left. So that’s the bad news.

    The good news is that if Osama should hit a city with some really bad-ass act of terrorism, then THIS TIME they’ll be ready. Really.

  • No, they didn’t send the aid because they weren’t prepared. Pure and simple. They knew this was a pending potential disaster and this Administration cut funding for it anyway. Days in advance of the hurricane hitting land, the information was being discussed daily in most major media, and despite having this advanced notice, very little preparation was made.

    For evidence, I point you to the new situation there once the National Guard and military appeared (magically coinciding with Bush’s short media-oriented visit). Suddenly evacuations have begun in earnest and food and supplies are beginning to arrive. I know of three stranded parties who have finally been evacuated once the National Guard arrived. Is it because there is less looting or shooting? No. It is because the government is finally there doing what it’s supposed to be doing.

    The Administration will now try to spin this story to blame others, but this was a failure of our federal government and of our leadership in one of the most basic functions of government.

    What makes it even worse, in my opinion, is that since 9/11, they have been telling us how they are going to protect the country, blah blah blah. After spending tens of billions on a “Homeland Security” program, it turns out they can’t handle a catastrophe with several days of forewarning. What would happen if Bin Laden pulls off another surprise attack? What if it’s a sizeable enough attack to affect a city?

    Sheer incompetence.

  • Mobius…don’t know if they’ve reported anything where you’re at, but the entire reason these things had to be stopped..especially foreign aid and help…is due to the fact we had to supress an “enemy” before offering help. The bigger story that has gone ignored is the rape and murder occuring (or that did occur) in New Orleans directly after the disaster. How can you send aid into a city when that aid is going to get shot and killed?

  • let me get this straight: dhs won’t let the red cross deliver food. cops are refusing donations at the astrodome. fema won’t let chicago send food and medical supplies. the feds won’t let canada, russia or venezuela help. gaurdsmen halted the evacuation of the superdome. the levee breach repair crew was pulled off the job. civilian rescuers were ordered to stop rescue missions. fema refused water from walmart and cut their emergency communication lines. (source)

    but israel can send a relief crew?!

    i don’t buy it for a minute. israel may think they’re going. chances are they’ll be halted in the process.

    and why?

    because “george bush doesn’t care about black people.”

  • I tried again. You’re on the phone. I hate you. And the desk people are starting to hate me.

  • Israel so rocks the relief effort.

    And remember, all you folks who are calling CK in LA, he’s staying under the name I.P. Freeley.

  • i am at the Standard Hotel in LA. Call me at 213-892-8080 room 1120. This place is nuts! Anyone else wanna call me? Now y’all have my number. I’m talking about you, themiddle.