Department of Homeland Security: Katrina's Final Victim

It wasn’t a subway bomb. It wasn’t a dirty bomb. It wasn’t a hijacked plane. It wasn’t illegal immigration. It wasn’t a hostage situation in downtown Manhattan. It was a natural disaster. Katrina will underscore the incompetence of a bloated and ill defined bureaucracy. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will sink faster than Royal Street during this rescue operation.

This is the first true test of a bureaucracy which can not afford to be slow in action or hesitant in response. Before the arrival of Katrina, FEMA directors and operational analysts KNEW (see Michael Brown – Bush was in Crawford for two more days) that this storm would bring havoc and destruction to the region. Unfortunately, FEMA was placed on idle during the final stages of the Hurricane preparation. Why? Because as Bush announced (8/31) in the Rose garden that Michael Chertoff is in charge. This came days after Katrina’s landfall. Consequently, orders from on high had to arrive before action could take place, action which could have saved lives.

It is important to realize that FEMA has worked well in the past. For example, Hurricane Ivan (2004) ripped through Pensacola and FEMA was, and is still, there within hours of landfall. This is just one example which I have personally witnessed. Now FEMA is handcuffed by DHS. Saving lives is dependent on fast action not bureaucratic inaction. Moreover, the agenda of DHS is wide in scope - terrorism, cargo inspection, citizen surveillance, propaganda, colored alerts, travel and transportation, tracking foreign sex offenders, levying taxes on goods, immigrant location and relocation, espionage, development and research and the occasional natural disaster - with a disjointed system of operational procedures.

Granted, security from terrorism, domestic as well as foreign, is a national priority, however more than one central and cumbersome department must be implemented. In effect, this administration has done what it always does; one step forward and two step back, and unfortunately a Texas Two Step will not bring rapid relief to the Gulf Coast.

Concurrently, DHS was slow to respond (National Guard is just NOW arriving to the areas) and this will cost countless lives. This is not a blame game by any stretch of the imagination; it is a situation of importance for regions that experience natural disasters. Thus, this disaster and the aftermath of DHS's slow moving bureaucracy will effect the entire country. For, the US is the only country in the world which is effected by every sort of natural disaster. Whether that disaster is Volcano, Hurricane, Earthquake, Tornado, Flooding, Mudslides, Tsunami, Avalanches, or Blizzard the DHS is now in charge of all operational procedures.

However, the priority of this department is terrorism. I understand that terrorism is a critical security issue; yet having one central agency responsible for the entire gambit of disasters is erroneous. Unless there is another motive involved. Could the DHS amalgamation be the first steps in erasing federal disaster relief? This is not as far fetched as it may seem, some have urged for such a course of action. (see Saying No to Federal Disaster Relief by William B. Irvine) Stating that it is not the federal governments responsibility- according to the Constitution- to use any federal funds for disaster relief.

Conversely, quoting from the Constitution, “We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote for the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Just from this small introduction we find at least three references to national relief:

1. General Welfare
2. Secure blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity
3. Insure domestic tranquility

A remedy to this situation comes straight from the OLD GOP, the dwindling Goldwater faction of the Republican Party: state funds and first responders, i.e. states rights bolstered when absolutely necessary by the federal government. The best way to insure domestic tranquility, liberty and welfare are to give citizens of the region autonomy; pure and unadulterated autonomy, during times of crisis.

This autonomy comes in the form of first responders and preventative measures which have not been given the appropriate funds during this administration. As the, “New Orleans CityBusiness detailed the funding shortfalls faced by the Corps of Engineers in efforts to build $114 million worth of hurricane protection projects. With federal funding down by more than 44 percent from 2001 levels, Stan Green, project manager for the Corps’s Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, told CityBusiness that no new contracts for construction had been awarded since early in fiscal year 2004. Even before that, reported CityBusiness, work had slowed and fewer projects had been taken on because of funding shortfalls.” Additionally, “The Bush administration also has made significant changes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), shifting funds away from pre-disaster preparation and implementing policies to promote outsourcing of relief efforts to private companies.” Moreover, according to Michael Brzezinski, author of Fortress America, first responders –firefighters, ambulance drivers, EMS, and police- are facing budget cuts. It is imperative that policies change or the next, “12 more tropical storms … expected to follow Hurricane Katrina, the most destructive storm to ever strike the United States, and four may be major hurricanes, according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),” will be even more disparaging.