Bush briefed on Levee breaches before Katrina Hit

[Balta1701]

So...I'm not even going to ask how the AP got their hands on these videos. But since they're out...it sure looks like the higher ups, Bush and Chertoff in particular, were in fact fully briefed on the likely outcomes of Katrina hitting New Orleans well before the storm hit shore, including the failure of levees, disaster at the Superdome, etc.

 

In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage.

 

Bush didn't ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."

 

The footage — along with seven days of transcripts of briefings obtained by The Associated Press — show in excruciating detail that while federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, they were fatally slow to realize they had not mustered enough resources to deal with the unprecedented disaster.

 

Linked by secure video, Bush's confidence on Aug. 28 starkly contrasts with the dire warnings his disaster chief and a cacophony of federal, state and local officials provided during the four days before the storm.

 

A top hurricane expert voiced "grave concerns" about the levees and then-

Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown told the president and

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that he feared there weren't enough disaster teams to help evacuees at the Superdome.

 

"I'm concerned about ... their ability to respond to a catastrophe within a catastrophe," Brown told his bosses the afternoon before Katrina made landfall.

 

Some of the footage and transcripts from briefings Aug. 25-31 conflicts with the defenses that federal, state and local officials have made in trying to deflect blame and minimize the political fallout from the failed Katrina response.

 

...

Bush declared four days after the storm, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees" that gushed deadly flood waters into New Orleans. But the transcripts and video show there was plenty of talk about that possibility — and Bush was worried too.

[Texsox]

I thought I would save Kap some typing

 

YEEE f***ING HAW!!! LOW POLL NUMBERS!  OUR PRESIDENT SUCKS!!!  WOOO HOOOO!!!

 

And then you wonder why the perception is from a conservative standpoint all you want to do is attack and wish bad things for this president.

 

Edit: Oh, crap, my fault.  This is the Bush bashing thread that no one dare speak anything good about the president in here.  My fault, I just realized where I was.  But I think this is a good enough point to leave it here.

[mr_genius]

no one is saying that the federal government did a good job with this disaster

 

but the local government did even worse, so you might want to place some blame on those "not my fault!" democrats in Louisiana

 

don't worry, i won't hold my breath for an admission of fault

[Balta1701]

no one is saying that the federal government did a good job with this disaster

 

but the local government did even worse, so you might want to place some blame on those "not my fault!" democrats in Louisiana

 

don't worry, i won't hold my breath for an admission of fault

As soon as I get a chance to vote against them, I promise I will.

[Rex Kickass]

no one is saying that the federal government did a good job with this disaster

 

but the local government did even worse, so you might want to place some blame on those "not my fault!" democrats in Louisiana

 

don't worry, i won't hold my breath for an admission of fault

 

That doesn't change the fact that the President lied - and there's no other way to put it - over expectations of Levee failure.

[Balta1701]

Crooks and Liars (yes its a liberal site, sue me, they have a ton of bandwith) has the videos up if you want to see.

[mr_genius]

That doesn't change the fact that the President lied - and there's no other way to put it - over expectations of Levee failure.

 

 

ok, can you provide me with the statements he made that were lies?

 

i'm not trying to defend Bush on this, but you need to be more specific with your attacks.

[Balta1701]

ok, can you provide me with the statements he made that were lies? 

 

i'm not trying to defend Bush on this, but you need to be more specific with your attacks.

"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees"

[mr_genius]

word

 

oh, i won with the "under" on the bet if the "Cheney shooting that guy" thread would last until March

 

Edited March 2, 2006 by mr_genius

[FlaSoxxJim]

no one is saying that the federal government did a good job with this disaster

 

but the local government did even worse, so you might want to place some blame on those "not my fault!" democrats in Louisiana

 

don't worry, i won't hold my breath for an admission of fault

Plenty of fault to go around, yes. But focusing on this current revelation for a moment. . .

 

GWB was fully briefed on the possibility of the levees being breached and New Orleans flooding, even as as the storm approached. Yet he said straight-faced a week later "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."

 

Well, obviously somebody - los of credentialed expert somebodys - did anticipate it. And they told Bush. And afterwards when the s*** hit the fan he publicly states that the levee failures were completely unforseen.

 

'I don't think anybody could have forseen that terrorists would hijack a plane and fly it into our buildings. . . '

 

Wrong. Such and attack was envisioned and spelled out for the President in the August 2001 PDB.

 

'I don't think anybody could have conceived that we wouldn't find WMDs in Iraq. . . '

 

Wrong. Inspectors were coming to that precise conclusion when they were stopped from doing their jobb in the runup to the war.

 

'I don't think anybody could have forseen. . . :

 

. . . the extent of the Iraqi insurgency. . .

 

. . . the possibility of secttarian violence in a post-Saddam Iraq. . .

 

Do you see a pattern here?

 

And in every case, not only did people forsee these things but they shared their findings and insights with the administration, despite their predictable litany of claims to the contrary.

[FlaSoxxJim]

"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."

^^^^^

 

It's the new "We Don't Torture."

[mr_genius]

Plenty of fault to go around, yes.  But focusing on this current revelation for a

'I don't think anybody could have forseen that terrorists would hijack a plane and fly it into our buildings. . . '

 

Wrong.  Such and attack was envisioned and spelled out for the President in the August 2001 PDB.

 

 

 

Alright, that's unfair. I'm sure the president gets tons of threats all the time and I'm sure he takes them seriously...but smashing those planes into the World Trade Center was a suprise to a lot of peole in the intelligence community. Oh, and i'm sure if he had arrested the hijackers before 9-11 you and the ACLU would be screaming "racism, anit-muslim racism!". On Bush's anti-terrorism tactics, he is definately in the "damned if you do, damned if you don't" category with you. no offense.

Edited March 2, 2006 by mr_genius

[FlaSoxxJim]

Alright, that's unfair.  I'm sure the president gets tons of threats all the time and I'm sure he takes them seriously...but smashing those planes into the World Trade Center was a suprise to a lot of peole in the intelligence community.  Oh, and i'm sure if he had arrested the hijackers before 9-11 you and the ACLU would be screaming "racism, anit-muslim racism!".  On Bush's anti-terrorism tactics, he is definately in the "damned if you do, damned if you don't" category with you.  no offense.

No offense taken. But for the administration to state "NOBODY could have predicted it" is disingenuous. Even if such an attack was envisioned, thwarting it is something else entirely though, to be sure.

 

And I agree there are lots of credible threats that the administration would have to wade through. I understand that, and rational people understand that. So why resort to the bald-faced lies about how nobody in a million years could have forseen any of this stuff?

Edited March 2, 2006 by FlaSoxxJim

[mr_genius]

And I agree there are lots of credible threats that the administration would have to wade through.  I understand that, and rational people understand that.  So why resort to the bald-faced lies about how nobody in a million years could have forseen any of this stuff?

 

 

Well, he definately didn't choose the right wording for the Levees (and it does make him sound like he was lying)... 9-11, I'm not so sure he had enough credible intel to make bold counter-terrorism moves. He could have made his public statements more clear on what he did know.

[EvilMonkey]

There also seems to be a video of governor Blanco saying what she would do if a Cat 5 hurricane were to hit the area during a campaign debate. I guess she also 'lied' about what she would do, since she did none of it. Video is here

http://exposetheleft.com/ (following the lead of Balta, yes, it is a conservative site, but don't sue me, you won't get anything!)

[Rex Kickass]

I totally think she should be recalled and impeached. Of course, I feel the same way about our current administration.

[kapkomet]

Plenty of fault to go around, yes.  But focusing on this current revelation for a moment. . .

 

GWB was fully briefed on the possibility of the levees being breached and New Orleans flooding, even as as the storm approached.  Yet he said straight-faced a week later  "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."

 

Well, obviously somebody - los of credentialed expert somebodys - did anticipate it.  And they told Bush.  And afterwards when the s*** hit the fan he publicly states that the levee failures were completely unforseen.

 

'I don't think anybody could have forseen that terrorists would hijack a plane and fly it into our buildings. . . '

 

Wrong.  Such and attack was envisioned and spelled out for the President in the August 2001 PDB.

 

'I don't think anybody could have conceived that we wouldn't find WMDs in Iraq. . . '

 

Wrong.  Inspectors were coming to that precise conclusion when they were stopped from doing their jobb in the runup to the war.

 

'I don't think anybody could have forseen. . . :

 

. . . the extent of the Iraqi insurgency. . .

 

. . . the possibility of secttarian violence in a post-Saddam Iraq. . .

 

Do you see a pattern here?

 

And in every case, not only did people forsee these things but they shared their findings and insights with the administration, despite their predictable litany of claims to the contrary.

 

On the point of the levees, it's only been predicted for what, 30 years, if a CAT 5 hit N.O. the levees would fail. Well, it missed by one Cat. Big deal. There was no place for the water to go, and maybe they were surprised it was THIS storm that did it, but HELLOOOOO, again, it's only been talked about for 30 years.

 

Flaxx, I know you really like to push the point that basically this group of people is nothing but a sham in the White House. Part of it is true, but the other part is half the time, the stories are only half told. I guess that is the part that bugs me the most. It's too easy to pin the blame on the President. Most of the time, it's usually something beyond even him.

[FlaSoxxJim]

On the point of the levees, it's only been predicted for what, 30 years, if a CAT 5 hit N.O. the levees

 

Well, I don't know that ANYBODY could have predicted that the levees could possibly fail, but. . .

 

You hit the problem on the head. If it has been widely known for so many years that they could fail when the "big one" hit, how does the president think he can credibly state thatsuch a possibility had not even been considered?

 

I guess that is the part that bugs me the most.  It's too easy to pin the blame on the President.  Most of the time, it's usually something beyond even him.

 

Yes. Honesty. That is the thing that is beyond him.

Edited March 2, 2006 by FlaSoxxJim

[kapkomet]

Yes.  Honesty.  That is the thing that is beyond him.

 

Yes and no. (And that's the truth)

 

I think half the time he gets fed a line of bull s*** and then doesn't know any better. I think the other half the time, there's a reason why he's lying and it's important that he does so. Like the ports deal. Of course that doesn't matter anymore, because that's getting totally blown out of the water no matter what now anyway.

[Steff]

[southsider2k5]

Oops.

 

Later in the call, White House aide Joe Hagin asks specifically about the condition of the levees. Gov. Kathleen Blanco tells him that no failures were confirmed -- yet.

 

"We keep getting reports in some places that maybe water is coming over the levees," Blanco said. "I think we have not breached the levee. We have not breached the levee at this point in time. That could change, but in some places we have floodwaters coming in New Orleans East and the line at St. Bernard Parish where we have waters that are 8- to 10-feet deep, and we have people swimming in there, that's got a considerable amount of water."

[kapkomet]

Oh so the governor can be wrong, but the president is just a liar. Interesting.

 

Look, the whole thing is bulls***, no matter how you cut it or who you blame.

[Balta1701]

Oops.

So if we assume that call would look as bad for Blanco as humanly possible, it would be the last call she put through to the President on the day Katrina struck...since by Tuesday morning everyone on Earth except Chertoff knew the levees were down. Interestingly, we have other details about that call from earlier press reports.

 

At about 8 p.m., she spoke to Bush. "Mr. President," she said, "we need your help. We need everything you've got."

 

Bush, the governor later recalled, was reassuring. But the conversation was all a little vague. Blanco did not specifically ask for a massive intervention by the active-duty military. "She wouldn't know the 82nd Airborne from the Harlem Boys' Choir," said an official in the governor's office, who did not wish to be identified talking about his boss's conversations with the president. There are a number of steps Bush could have taken, short of a full-scale federal takeover, like ordering the military to take over the pitiful and (by now) largely broken emergency communications system throughout the region. But the president, who was in San Diego preparing to give a speech the next day on the war in Iraq, went to bed.

A little reassuring probably is comparable to the "we have no confirmed reports of levee breaches" statement, but even though Blanco was clearly wrong to include any positive news at all in that phone call, it also appears that Bush didn't do anything based on the call.

[YASNY]

"She wouldn't know the 82nd Airborne from the Harlem Boys' Choir," said an official in the governor's office, who did not wish to be identified talking about his boss's conversations with the president.

 

There's leadership for you!

[samclemens]

once again, blaming bush personally is just an excuse to either side with the democratic party or to simply not think out the issue