Letter: Reaction to Katrina is where Bush erred

Saturday, Sept. 2, 2006 | 7:30 a.m.

In response to Lee Gliddon Jr.'s Aug. 30 letter, "Katrina could not have been prevented," he has completely missed the boat.

He is right that Katrina was an act of nature and could not have been prevented, but what happened in New Orleans in the days, weeks and months after Katrina was a national disgrace.

What else could have been done? How about increasing the funding to rebuild the levees rather than cutting it by as much as 80 percent to pay for a tax cut for the wealthy?

How about listening to the Army Corps of Engineers when it said that the levees around New Orleans would not hold up to a strong hurricane?

How about having someone heading up the Federal Emergency Management Agency who was actually qualified for the job?

How about having the National Guard in New Orleans rather than in Baghdad fighting a war we didn't need to fight?

How about running the buses the week before the hurricane hit rather that the week after?

How about having food and water at the shelters before the people arrived rather than a week later?

Talk about fraud and deceit!

The incompetence of the Bush administration got a lot of innocent people killed in New Orleans. Please wake up and start holding them accountable for their mistakes.

Joe Creed, Las Vegas