KATRINA: ACCEPTANCE OF RESPONSIBILITY DOES NOT ABSOLVE BUSH'S CULPABILITY

KATRINA: ADMISSION OF RESPONSIBILITY DOES NOT ABSOLVES BUSH’S CULPABILITY

FARHAT QUAM MAQUAMI

When many informed sources and indeed the majority of Americans pointed the finger at the White House, it is not because of their anger at Bush or the Republican war machine. It was the level of response of an irresponsible government that made the blame fit. A government that has invaded two countries and has massacred more than 100,000 civilians in Iraq only on the basis of an allegation and pointing fingers at Middle Eastern Males, suddenly started to ban “pointing fingers”! Specially when the evidence of culpability was so grand that only fools and “true believers” could not see it!

Those critics should keep quiet now that George Bush has admitted responsibility for the events. Remember the Bush administration has never admitted to a mistake in the past. This time they could not deny it and if they let a congressional investigation of the events leading to the breakdown of levees the truth would come out that even at the last moments when FEMA was asking the White House to act, all requests were denied. We should no longer tear each other apart on who to blame for the disaster. Bush has accepted responsibilities to stop criticism, of his obvious wrongdoings .

No American patriot should accept Bush’s apologies to the victims of catastrophe. Anyone who let Bush walk away from this should let all criminals who confess and accept responsibility for a crime go free. Admission of responsibility does not absolve his culpability. To accept responsibility is confession to a crime of negligent homicide. The real contrition comes in acceptance of punishment. There exists tons of research papers, State’s requests, official demands and news prints analysis which points to the upcoming catastrophe if levees are not repaired. It was an obvious failure in the chain of command.

When Clinton admitted his guilt for a simple misbehavior, the Republican pundits and infamous prosecutor Kenneth Star insisted that he should be impeached and even put on jail. Now we ask the same purveyors of the rule of law if Bush’s admission negligence and dereliction of duty, which has caused more than 500 lives and astronomical damages to the livelihood of 480,000 citizens of New Orleans, should be treated the same way. He must be accountable under the same concept of the “rule of law”, otherwise the law itself becomes a farce. Application of law can not be selective or the law would be nothing but an instrument of the ruling elite for preservation of its class domination.

The fact that Hurricane Katrina hit Mississippi then returned to New Orleans is ignored by corporate media because they want to shift the blame from men to nature and God. Look at New Orleans pictures you would see almost no destruction from hurricane. The city went under water, because of years of neglect from Hurricane Bush to repair the levees. Levees could have been reinforced and fixed four years ago. Levees could and should have been fixed before the Hurricane Season. Army Corps of Engineers virtually begged the administration for repair money and it was denied. They were not fixed because Bush cut their budget and ignored the cities request for funding. The White House and the Homeland Security Secretary ignored the warnings from meteorologists who insisted that levees would break in the upcoming hurricane seasons and even presented a scenario as to what exactly would happen.

FEMA had lost its independence under Bush and could not act independently. Officials at FEMA requested the Department Homeland Security Secretary to act and they ignored ( Michael Brown, CNN interview ). All this happened because of callous disregard for life and welfare of poor and blacks which constitutes 60 percent of New Orleans population( According to US census 40 per cent of 18 and under and 20 per cent of 60 and over live below poverty line that is about 320,000 population did not have means to escape, defend themselves, and did not have transportation to run from New Orleans.

It is up to New Orleans Attorney General to expands his investigation and charge all responsible for the death and destruction in New Orleans. From the mayor who did not act and let down 100,000 poor blacks and elderly to Bush must be investigated and charged. Also some lawyer should file a class action suit and do not wait for a white wash commission like 911. Every racist cups ,sheriffs, and Guardsmen who intimidated, lied, fired over head of the victim of Government negligence must be charged with criminal negligence and failing to protect the life ,property and welfare of the hopeless victims of Katrina. People who were running from the flood were prevented by armed police from crossing bridges to the Parishes dry land, just because they were black. The civil rights of these poor blacks were violated by their local as well as their own National Guards. These must be investigated and cannot be shoved under the carpet because Bush accepted responsibility and would allocate $200 billion dollars for remaking of New Orleans.

What the corporate mass media has not investigated is the fact that many decent poor and black citizens were subjected to brutal humiliation by the local police and national army and forcibly uprooted form their emotional home and some were sent as far away as Porto Rico. They would not care for the greater and better New Orleans for the Corporate Multinationals and Casino outlets. What they would care is their lost community and a sense of belongings to the memories of love and affections. They have become refugees in their own land .

What is asked here is that If a Nursing Home health Care provider can be charged for negligent homicide, then why should we be sweet talked into letting the Bush administration go free? It is hoped that the proposed investigation would be impartial and put the blame on Bush who has already admitted in being the culprit. This is not 911, that the blame could be put on Middle Eastern Muslims, who love Americans and never dreamt of harming them. Bush has himself to blame for this mess and the promise of 200 billions out of the nation’s bankrupt treasury should not cover the reality of terror. Now they want to remake the bigger and better New Orleans, without local participation. This is a farce that must be resisted at all levels. the contracts must go to locals and they should be allowed to participate in planning and development. The 60 per cent of poor blacks who suffered most should be uplifted and helped most. They are the one who should be compensated for 300 years of racial oppression which has kept the powerless and helpless three decades after Civil Rights Movement.

Let us stop racial hatred in New Orleans 45 years after Ruby Bridges became the first Black child to attend a New Orleans Elementary School and trust blacks as Americans and lift them out of the circle of poverty and despair imposed on them by racism in Acommunitymerica. Only actions from progressives officials can prevent the New Orleans Development money would go to the community rather the Corporations that do not care for the community.

STOP OCCUPATION OF NEW OPRLEANS: Pump out the Toxic Water !

STOP OCCUPATION OF NEW ORLEANS : This is not Iraq

FARHAT QUAM MAQUAMI

Believe it or not one the most important historical cities in America is being condemned because of the US Empire’s inability, unwillingness and inaptitude in bringing pumps to the city. This is a Pump less Empire! George Bush who has spent over 200 Billions of dollars in Iraq occupation, chasing the illusive WMD, is contaminating New Orleans with WMD cocktails. Is he doing this out of utter ignorance or there is a conspiracy to destroy the city to put Hallirburton and other Bush supporters in charge of massive clean-up projects and rebuilding of the city!

That is why the Occupation force does not have pumps! To make the matter worse all the three working pumps are dumping the toxic waste into the Lake Pontchartrain which would cause the worst environmental disaster in America after Love Canal.

Dick Cheney Declared the occupation as an “Enormous Success” as the city rots under toxic waste that his occupation force failed to pump out. It is Baghdad all over again! Bush Administration until now has refused to let local citizens, or a volunteer force of hundreds of fireman and other flood specialist to enter the city to pump the water out. Out of the 27 giant city pumps only 3 are working. The responsibility falls directly on the chain of command. Therefore, all fingers must be pointed at the White House, and the Department of Homeland Security. They not only failed to secure New Orleans, but failed to supply pumps to drain the water into the canals. Their inaction turn a local disaster to a national catastrophe.
The Mayor should be charged with negligent homicide of hundreds Nursing home victims. He might be criminally responsible for death of thousands of people and destruction of their properties.

Why the media does not pay attention to the fact that the Administration did not want to save New Orleans, that is why they did not mobilize a force of mobile Pumps or bring portable generators to get the pumps running. Instead they came with an occupation force who forcibly removed the residents and put the city under siege. Why did the Bush administration treated the citizens of New Orleans like enemies to be conquered? Or, a territory to be "secured"? Bush administration went after New Orleans as if it was Somalia or Iraq. They went with Maximum force of armed troops with shot to kill orders. Instead of food, pump units, the helpless citizens were faced with armed counter-insurgency units, as if they were Talibans. That is why the water changed to sewage and raw sewage mixed with decomposing bodies and household toxic materials transformed into poisonous black contaminated toxic stew of WMD.

They did not go with experience Firemen, Water Department specialists, Phone company and Cable company experts that are specialist, with giant truck mounted pumps that suck everything out of the ground. They are the flooding specialists. The Bush administration betrayed the well behaved civilian population of New Orleans and did not mobilize neither a vast contingent of fire trucks to pump the water nor installed mobile pumps to suck the water and save the city. Even,14 days after Katrina, only four of the cities 24 pumps are working and the rest are sitting idle waiting to be repaired. Their policy is let the city rots under the toxic water because Hallirburton has been called to fix it.

The Empire does not want pumps. The more damage to the city the profit for corporations connected to Bush and Cheney. Had they drained the city Bush & Co. would not have gotten the contracts under the State of Emergency.

Neo-Cons went to secure and pacify the city for Hallirburton and not to save it for its citizens. The sick mentality of the Bush administration made New Orleans an Occupied Territory”! Brig. Gen. Gary Jones, Commander of the Louisiana National Guard’s Joint Task Force told the Army Times last Friday :
“This place is going to look like Little Somalia,” as hundreds of armed troops under his charge prepared to launch a massive attack to regain the city! They found only dead bodies and helpless people that private agencies and good Samaritans were trying to help. No rebels, no massive gangs looting the houses! Except what normally happens in any major cities in the USA.

It is clear that right from the start this was not a campaign to save the city and its citizens, otherwise FEMA would have got the pumps working. Or, they would have mobilized hundreds of mobile pump trucks! No wonder they uprooted the proud people of New Orleans and changed them into refugees in their own land, just to occupy the city.

It is the chain of command that must accept responsibility not a lowly FEMA director who was just following the policy. The blame lies on Bush's Policy and we cannot put it on ignorance, stupidity, disorganization of those who were just following the policy, like the FEMA Director. All were acting according to the State Department hand book written by Pascual,, the head of the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, in 2004. Simply put how destroy and where to destroy in order to get easy money for Reconstruction. Make money out of bringing misery to other human beings. This is evil; but, it has been the policy of this administration from Afghanistan and Iraq onwards.

The White House had decided to sacrifice a city by: a)exaggerating the threats to occupy it; b) Evacuate the citizens so their properties remain unprotected c)Destroy the city's infra-structure and turn it into a ghost town and d) call the ghost buster Hallirburton and other Bush and Cheney allies to fix it and make profit out New Orleans’ misery.

NEW ORLEANS PACIFICATION: An "Enormous Success"!

NEW ORLEANS PCIFICATION: An “Enormous Success”

FARHAT MAQUAMI

Why the news media does not pay attention to the fact that the Administration did not want to save New Orleans otherwise it would have got the pumps working rather than making it a city under siege. It is an occupied territory. Why an Empire does not have pumps to drain and save the city? Neo-Cons went to secure and pacify the city and not to save it.They are as occupiers not repairmen, that is why they don't bring pumps. The general said it loud and clear: “This place is going to look like Little Somalia!”

Brig. Gen. Gary Jones, commander of the Louisiana National Guard’s Joint Task Force told Army Times Friday as hundreds of armed troops under his charge prepared to launch a massive attack to regain the city. They found only dead bodies and helpless people that private agencies and good Samaritans were trying to help. No rebels, no massive gangs looting the houses! Right from the beginning this was not a campaign to save the city and its citizens, otherwise they would get the pumps working. No wonder they uprooted the proud people of New Orleans and changed them into refugees in their own land.

Republicans might still pull a fast one and bring a reversal of misfortunes for their failed policies. They might reverse what is a total failure of leadership to an enormous success of Disaster Capitalism. Look how they declared the sophisticated implosion and "pulling down" the WTC buildings in 911 as the work of Muslims who did not utter Allah's name once. in any of the black boxes, even at the time of death. Then they impeded a real investigation.

They pulled off another fast one in Iraq and called it failure of intelligence and fooled the world and are still kicking. Now they are acting according to Pascual's text book who heads the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization. Its mandate is to draw up an elaborate "post-conflict" plans, whether it is the Act of God or Act of Bush! To profit from rebuilding what one deliberately destroys!
In January Condoleezza Rice described the Tsunami as "a wonderful opportunity" that "has paid great dividends for us." Many were horrified at that statement and no-one would mention it now!! Now Cheney declares this failure of leadership as an “Enormous Success”


After 911 Homeland Security Department was empower to federalize a disaster when the Mayor of New Orleans failed to use his 400 buses to evacuate the defenseless citizens. It failed to act. After ten days they have not repaired or blocked the breaches in the two remaining levees. We are ten days after the disaster and it seems that nobody in charge. How this could have happened in America?

Over one hundred thousands of people did not have cars. The mayor did not organize the buses to help his helpless citizens. Now the same mayor who betrayed those who elected him is issuing order and is intimidating residents to evacuate the city. The Mayor still passes ordinances and is forcing people to leave their houses. Even at this moment all helps comes from wonderful people not the government. More than 60,000 of armed forces are going house to house in combat fatigue to secure the area as if it is a combat zone and the citizens are the enemy, who must be pacified.

Political blame should fell squarely on the chain of command. People wanted to leave . Those who could run listened to the Mayor request to go to convention center which proved to be a hoax . Four hundred of city buses were stranded because of cities lack of planning, panic and disorganization. The city officials, FEMA and Department of Homeland Security are first to blame for the Chaos

The difference between those who lived and those who died was race and poverty. If this has happened in a white middle class community it would not gone the same way. The media exaggerated and lied about honorable citizens of New Orleans. Most stories of rape, riots, break-ins was and disorderly conducts was our right lies and came out of the racist imagination. The racist media described the honorable citizens of New Orleans as “uncivilized” , gangsters, violent murderers who are shooting people at random to steal their property. As we know now all racist commentators were wrong. The only crime that happened in New Orleans was dereliction of duty by public officials. They are the ones who must be held accountable for the state of despair of Levees, lack of preparation for the up-coming storm, and failure to protect the security life, and welfare of its citizens. This is a white color-crime and criminals must be put in trials.

The question is why when the dry lands in New Orleans is completely secured the mayor and chaotic chain of command is forcing people to evacuate the city. No News organization has questioned the fact why the government started with the propaganda that there is riot and gangs of disorderly hoodlums have taken the law in their hand. Except a few exception non was true. Then why this city is being treated like an occupied Baghdad and more than 60,000 uniformed officers and even contractors from Bechtel are trying to “secure” it. Why instead of helping people to stay ad help themselves, rebuild their community and take care of their property they are treating them as morons who should be air lifted, as if they are in war zone.

Why this War Zone mentality and why there was no FEMA truck in town to help people even after 10 days?
Why no one question the Bush administration that it is the privatization of FEMA which put it in disarray not the hurricane? Why no-one questions the fact that there might be a conspiracy to get every body out of town and exaggerate the damage, refuse to start he pumps so all houses to be condemned, then come with billions of dollars to be contracted to Bechtel, and other Corporations to secure and then rebuild the city. For the bush administration this is the best way that disaster capitalism works.

NEW ORLEAN'S CATASTROPHE: BUSHES FAILURE! NOT A WRATH OF GOD

NEW ORLEAN’S CATASTROPHE: BUSH’S FAILURE! NOT A WRATH OF GOD

FARHAT QUAM MAQUAMI

Don't let the result of 4 years of neglect turns to an economic and political bonanza for Bush & Co.! Republican pundits, public relation firms and embedded corporate media publicists are already changing the debate about dereliction of duty of Bush administration and its years of neglect in providing the necessary fund for the repair of the levees into a photo opportunity session for the administration officials to present themselves as crusaders for health and welfare of citizens of New Orleans.

After initial delay and inaction which caused many poor and black citizens to drawn or suffocate, on September 1,2005 Bush took to the airways and declared “I don’t think anyone anticipated that breach of the levees,” which was an untruthful statement. The catastrophic flooding of New Orleans had been forecasted by storm experts, engineers, Louisiana journalists, city, state officials, and even some federal agencies. All sorts of people had been predicting disaster for years, pointing to the danger of rising water levels and the need to strengthen the levees. All cries for help were ignored by his administration.

Bush administration has come now with a 60 billion dollars proposal to re-build the city. Given their history of no-bid contractors in Iraq and seeing next to nothing accomplishment in rebuilding the infrastructure of that country Democrats must move fast to make sure the money goes to the victims of disaster rather than the corporate elite in charge of clean-ups. Most important of all watch now that whosoever Republicans want to promote to be the next president of the US would be named as the man in change of rebuilding the city. Mayor Julliani might come out from the eye of Katrina, and shine as the American Idol for presidency for 2008.

Don’t let this Conservative made Catastrophe become a republican Bonanza like 911. America must wake up and stop “ pointing finger” at Middle Eastern Muslims who did not attack the US in 911, never planned to attack US and never did harm the US thereafter. America should start “ pointing finger” to the Neo-Cons who neglected America for the past 4 years. They are the enemy within. The enemy who let our cities without security and show callous disregard for American life. They had the US chasing Saddam for WMD while under their watch the beautiful New Orleans became a Toxic Waste Lake with billions of gallons hazardous water worse than WMD.

Bush’s agenda was to cut government services to the bone and make people rely on the private sector for services that government is supposed to provide. It was Bush who sliced $71 million from the budget of the New Orleans Corps of Engineers, a 44 percent reduction. That is why plans to fortify New Orleans levees and upgrade the system of pumping out water, which was a necessity, was shelved. Army Corps of Engineer personnel had started work to build new levees several years ago but many of them were taken off the repair projects and sent to Iraq. In addition, the president cut $30 million in flood control appropriations, while wasting more than 85 billion dollars a year chasing Saddam for fictional WMD. Under their watch the beautiful New Orleans has transformed into a Toxic Waste Lake with billions of gallons hazardous water worse than WMD threatening the entire environment.




Americans must question what really happened and how a city become a WMD lake. The Hurricane actually hit Mississippi with full force and Neo Orleans was touched on return. Why then this Catastrophic damage and great human tragedy? Why American citizens should have been left with no security after 4 years of constant expenditure of billions of dollars on Homeland Security. Were the Neo-Cons in the administration, Fox news and other corporate media deceiving Americans for the past four years and wasting our resources on their hobbies outside here playing hide and seek with Bin Ladin and looking for nonexistent WMD in Iraq.

While for the past 4 years Bush Administration spent over 2 billion dollars a week on its make believe War on Terror chasing mythical theorists who were supposed to have attacked the Fortress America, it failed to spend a mere half million dollars to repair the Levee system of New Orleans to protect the life .property and wellbeing of its own citizens. It had the national resources wasted on dropping a man made Hurricane of bombs on the middle East while ignoring health, welfare and security of its citizens.

Let make sure that Levees of New Orleans that came down because of disrepair would bring down the Neo-Con Callous ideology that betrayed the poor and Blacks in America. All patriots in America should question why the Bush administration neglected the State of Emergency declared by Governor of Louisiana and did not give the necessary help to repair the two levees that collapsed. If this was not a breach of betrayal homeland security what is ? The Army Core of Engineer just closed the Levee on September 6 two days after they got the go ahead order; why the order was not issued a year ago when they virtually begged the Bush administration to give them the budget for repair.

My heart bleeds for the victims of Louisiana. Yet, the Bush administration knew that this day could come at any time, and it knew the things that needed to be done to protect the citizens of New Orleans. But the administration tried to gamble Billions of dollars of this nation resources in Iraq and cutting taxes for the rich and sacrificed over 10000 life of poor and black Americans and change the most beautiful historical city into WMD wasteland..

Now that Bush has lost that gamble and has compromised national security in the tradition of all democracies he must bear the full responsibility for his failure not the FEMA, or Homeland Security Department . There need to be a real Congressional Investigation and Democrats should resist any sham White Wash that followed 911.

New Orleans had long known it was highly vulnerable to flooding and a direct hit from a hurricane. In fact, the federal government has been working with state and local officials in the region since the late 1960s on major hurricane and flood relief efforts. When flooding from a massive rainstorm in May 1995 killed six people, Congress authorized the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, or SELA.
Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans continued to sink. Despite the begging of SELA , the Army Corps, city and local government budgets were cut and Bush refused to help. In early 2004, as the cost of the conflict in Iraq soared, President Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was needed for Lake Pontchartrain.

On Feb. 16, 2004, article of New Orleans City Business:

The $750 million Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection project is another major Corps project, which remains about 20% incomplete due to lack of funds, said Al Naomi, project manager. That project consists of building up levees and protection for pumping stations on the east bank of the Mississippi River in Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Charles and Jefferson parishes.

On invasion of Iraq Bush and his Neo-con handlers told Americans that they needed to fight in Iraq to save lives here at home, and yet -- after moving billions of domestic dollars to the Persian Gulf -- there are more than 10,000 bodies floating through the streets of New Orleans. What does George W. Bush have to say now that his administration did not secure the Homeland? In democracies honorable people accept responsibility and resign. Nixon had the honor to accept responsibility and resign for a simple break- in that did not hurt no Americans. Clinton was impeached for a personal misbehavior. which did not harm this nation. Even in Banana Republics head of State would resign or run out of the country for a neglect in bringing about a minute disaster. We should not allow this American tragedy be used by Republicans to promote their next presidential candidate Julliani and the Republican Party uses this as a campaign strategy,promotion, a public relation bonanza and an economic windfall profit for their corporate partners and contributors.