Iraq war delayed Katrina relief effort, inquiry finds
By Kim Sengupta
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article316682.ece
Published: 03 October 2005
Relief efforts to combat Hurricane Katrina suffered near catastrophic
failures due to endemic corruption, divisions within the military and
troop shortages caused by the Iraq war, an official American inquiry
into the disaster has revealed.
The confidential report, which has been seen by The Independent,
details how funds for flood control were diverted to other projects,
desperately needed National Guards were stuck in Iraq and how military
personnel had to "sneak off post" to help with relief efforts because
their commander had refused permission.
The shortcomings in dealing with Katrina have rocked George Bush's
administration. Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, has resigned from his post and polls show that a
majority of Americans feel the President showed inadequate leadership.
The report was commissioned by the Office of Secretary of Defence as
an "independent and critical review" of what went so wrong. In a
hard-hitting analysis, it says: "The US military has long planned for
war on two fronts. This is as close as we have come to [that] reality
since the Second World War; the results have been disastrous."
The document was compiled by Stephen Henthorne, a former professor of
the US Army's War College and an adviser to the Pentagon who was a
deputy-director in the Louisiana relief efforts.
It charts how "corruption and mismanagement within the New Orleans
city government" had "diverted money earmarked for improving flood
protection to other, more vote-getting, projects. Past mayors and
governors gambled that the long-expected Big Killer hurricane would
never happen. That bet was lost with Hurricane Katrina."
The report concludes that although the US military did a good job in
carrying out emergency missions, there were some serious shortcomings.
The report states that Brigadier General Michael D Barbero, commander
of the Joint Readiness Training Centre at Fort Polk, Louisiana,
refused permission for special forces units who volunteered to join
relief efforts, to do so. General Barbero also refused to release
other troops.
"The same general did take in some families from Hurricane Katrina,
but only military families living off the base," the report says. "He
has done a similar thing for military families displaced by Hurricane
Rita. However, he declined to share water with the citizens of
Leesville, who are out of water, and his civil affairs staff have to
sneak off post in civilian clothes to help coordinate relief efforts."
The report says deployment in the Iraq war led to serious problems.
"Another major factor in the delayed response to the hurricane
aftermath was that the bulk of the Louisiana and Mississippi National
Guard was deployed in Iraq.
"Even though all the states have 'compacts' with each other, pledging
to come to the aid of other states, it takes time, money and effort to
activate and deploy National Guard troops from other states to fill
in".
Mr Henthorne's report states: "The President has indicated several
times that he wants the US military to take a more active role in
disaster management and humanitarian assistance.
"There are several reasons why that will not happen easily. (1)
Existing laws will not allow the police powers the military will need
to be effective. (2) The military is not trained for such a mission
and (3) the 'warfighter insurgency' within the US military does not
want such a mission and will strongly resist it. Not one civil affairs
unit was deployed for either hurricane."
The report concludes: "The one thing this disaster has demonstrated
[is] the lack of coordinated, in-depth planning and training on all
levels of Government, for any/all types of emergency contingencies.
9/11 was an exception because the geographical area was small and
contained, but these two hurricanes have clearly demonstrated a
national response weakness ... Failure to plan, and train properly has
plagued US efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq and now that failure has come
home to roost in the United States."
Relief efforts to combat Hurricane Katrina suffered near catastrophic
failures due to endemic corruption, divisions within the military and
troop shortages caused by the Iraq war, an official American inquiry
into the disaster has revealed.
The confidential report, which has been seen by The Independent,
details how funds for flood control were diverted to other projects,
desperately needed National Guards were stuck in Iraq and how military
personnel had to "sneak off post" to help with relief efforts because
their commander had refused permission.
The shortcomings in dealing with Katrina have rocked George Bush's
administration. Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, has resigned from his post and polls show that a
majority of Americans feel the President showed inadequate leadership.
The report was commissioned by the Office of Secretary of Defence as
an "independent and critical review" of what went so wrong. In a
hard-hitting analysis, it says: "The US military has long planned for
war on two fronts. This is as close as we have come to [that] reality
since the Second World War; the results have been disastrous."
The document was compiled by Stephen Henthorne, a former professor of
the US Army's War College and an adviser to the Pentagon who was a
deputy-director in the Louisiana relief efforts.
It charts how "corruption and mismanagement within the New Orleans
city government" had "diverted money earmarked for improving flood
protection to other, more vote-getting, projects. Past mayors and
governors gambled that the long-expected Big Killer hurricane would
never happen. That bet was lost with Hurricane Katrina."
The report concludes that although the US military did a good job in
carrying out emergency missions, there were some serious shortcomings.
The report states that Brigadier General Michael D Barbero, commander
of the Joint Readiness Training Centre at Fort Polk, Louisiana,
refused permission for special forces units who volunteered to join
relief efforts, to do so. General Barbero also refused to release
other troops.
"The same general did take in some families from Hurricane Katrina,
but only military families living off the base," the report says. "He
has done a similar thing for military families displaced by Hurricane
Rita. However, he declined to share water with the citizens of
Leesville, who are out of water, and his civil affairs staff have to
sneak off post in civilian clothes to help coordinate relief efforts."
The report says deployment in the Iraq war led to serious problems.
"Another major factor in the delayed response to the hurricane
aftermath was that the bulk of the Louisiana and Mississippi National
Guard was deployed in Iraq.
"Even though all the states have 'compacts' with each other, pledging
to come to the aid of other states, it takes time, money and effort to
activate and deploy National Guard troops from other states to fill
in".
Mr Henthorne's report states: "The President has indicated several
times that he wants the US military to take a more active role in
disaster management and humanitarian assistance.
"There are several reasons why that will not happen easily. (1)
Existing laws will not allow the police powers the military will need
to be effective. (2) The military is not trained for such a mission
and (3) the 'warfighter insurgency' within the US military does not
want such a mission and will strongly resist it. Not one civil affairs
unit was deployed for either hurricane."
The report concludes: "The one thing this disaster has demonstrated
[is] the lack of coordinated, in-depth planning and training on all
levels of Government, for any/all types of emergency contingencies.
9/11 was an exception because the geographical area was small and
contained, but these two hurricanes have clearly demonstrated a
national response weakness ... Failure to plan, and train properly has
plagued US efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq and now that failure has come
home to roost in the United States."
