Monday, September 5, 2005

"Killed by Contempt "- By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: September 5, 2005

"Killed by Contempt "

"Each day since Katrina brings more evidence of the lethal ineptitude of federal officials. I'm not letting state and local officials off the hook, but federal officials had access to resources that could have made all the difference, but were never mobilized."

"Here's one of many examples: The Chicago Tribune reports that the U.S.S. Bataan, equipped with six operating rooms, hundreds of hospital beds and the ability to produce 100,000 gallons of fresh water a day, has been sitting off the Gulf Coast since last Monday - without patients."

"Several recent news analyses on FEMAs sorry state have attributed the agency's decline to its inclusion in the Department of Homeland Security, whose prime concern is terrorism, not natural disasters...."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/opinion/05krugman.html?ex=1126065600&en=f89efac00ecce23e&ei=5070