The captain of an amphibious assault ship off the Gulf Coast offered to send her sailors onto land to help the people, have her helicopters assist in rescue operations, provide as much as 100,000 gallons of drinkable water a day, and open her ship's operating rooms to provide medical assistance and 600 beds for the relief effort. The federal government ignored and then delayed her offer.
During the first week of the disaster, the federal government had ordered the Red Cross and Salvation Army not to go into the New Orleans disaster zone, falsely citing a lack of adequate security. Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico offered 400 National Guard soldiers the day the hurricane hit; however, they weren't sent for four more days because of what Richardson called "federal paperwork" that the Pentagon insisted had to first be completed.
Chicago offered firefighters, police, health workers, sanitation workers, a mobile health clinic, trucks, boats, and cars. Rejected.
The Florida Airboat Association offered to send in 300 fully equipped boats with trained pilots. Rejected.
About 75 companies volunteered to use their own corporate aircraft to ferry supplies into smaller local and regional airports. When the federal government ignored the offer, the companies flew in more than 130,000 pounds of food and critical supplies, making determinations without federal assistance or appreciation of where the needs were the greatest.
Hundreds of companies tried to provide several million gallons of drinking water and ice for the evacuees. The federal government either blocked their delivery or routed them on a circuitous path throughout the South, and never allowed them to unload their cargoes. Members of the International Bottled Water Association did provide 10 million bottles of fresh water for evacuees, but received no assistance from the federal government, which refused to return several phone calls.
A national corporation offered free telecommunications equipment but the federal government rejected it, according to Ern Blackwelder of the Business Executives for National Security. Blackwelder told the Atlanta Journal–Constitution that the government later contracted with the same company and paid for equipment that had previously been offered at no charge.
About a week after Katrina hit, the U.S. began accepting humanitarian aid, but only from countries it determined were its allies.
Make no mistake about it, the leaders of Myanmar are dictators who trample human rights, have led their nation into an extended economic crisis, and are interested only in keeping their own power. Almost a month after Nargis hit the Irrawaddy Delta, the junta is now finally allowing foreign aid, but not from the United States.
But also make no mistake about this. The United States under its current administration will continue to refuse humanitarian aid and personnel from Cuba, Venezuela, and any other country that doesn't agree with the Bush–Cheney politics.
[Walter Brasch is professor of journalism at Bloomsburg University and president of the Pennsylvania Press Club. He is the author of the critically-acclaimed 'Unacceptable': The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina (January 2006) and Sinking the Ship of State: The Presidency of George W. Bush (November 2007), both available through amazon.com, borders.com, and other bookstores. You may contact Brasch at brasch@bloomu.edu or through his website at: www.walterbrasch.com.]
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