Posted on 09/09/2005 7:20:15 AM PDT by ExitPurgamentum
He stood up in front of the UN and put up all the evidence that was the basis for the invasion. None of it was confirmed after the invasion - so he and Tenet resigned.
Now that Powell is not a lap dog anymore for Bush he can speak his mind. I sure wish he would have elaborated on what recent foreign intelligence lied to us about WMD.
Good point, theere were certainly more screwups at the state and local levels...I think I need to skip over to a lighter topic..this whole NO situation is just a mess
I suspect this quote is taken out of context, and followed a leading question by the interviewer that was full of criticism against President Bush's administration and the feds, and Powell was diplomatically spreading the blame to state and local levels with his response.
This would be a not to subtle way of telling the country what he thinks of the POSITION of "Hurricane Czar".
We?
susie
FEMA now has an added level of bureaucracy and that didn't work well. I agree that the feds were incredibly efficient and effective. But that's still a long way from as good as they could have been. We always need to follow up and see how we can improve things.
"There have been a lot of failures at a lot of levels -- local, state and federal..."
I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what the failure was on the federal level, citing the appropriate chapter and verse of the applicable law or regulation, and not just passing on the claims of the liberals and MSM.
I don't recall him saying that was the reason for his resignation, but you could be correct.
LOL. I hear ya!
Powell did not "slam" the relief efforts, as Reuters says. While he indicated things went wrong, he did not "slam" anything. However, he does seem to miss the point that people in NO waited for the "government" to rescue them, instead of helping themselves, as their African ancestors did and their African peers do now. Years of welfare seem to have erased the strong tradition of self-sufficiency among certain strata of black people in the US. Sad, indeed.
Yes, we Americans. What did you think I was talking about?
Oh I agree with that. But there is a wide line of difference between "how can we be even faster" and "Bush racist, FEMA dawdled, National Guard incompetent". It's ridiculous.
I don't see any 'mistakes' on the federal level because they just followed their plan. The plan however, may be flawed.
"He said he did not think that race was a factor in the slow response, but that many of those unable to leave New Orleans in time were trapped by poverty which disproportionately affects blacks."
He's right there. However, FEMA helped fund a plan to get those people out. The local government failed to implement it. They just left the school busses sitting idle.
Who is responsible? The local government those people elected. The same government that keeps telling those people that it's the republicans that are at fault for all their problems, and that the democrats are the ones that are looking out for them.
When are the poor going to learn that the Democrats are not their friends?
I'd also like to see Powell point out what the major failings were on the part of the federal government. It looks to me like they did their jobs well, and if they hadn't been there constatnly pressuring the governor to take action and moving into action as they were given authority, many more would have died.
Powell should know better. He should definately understand how our government works and what are the limitations on the federal government in such cases.
Studies show an anecdotal correlation. Causation has never been shown.
Anecdotally, values in the black, impoverished community in the 1940s and 50s (among other time periods) were excellent. Particularly by comparison to current values in the impoverished community. (of any race)
Thomas Sowell has written several excellent books which cite this and much other evidence which lead to definitive proof that causation does not exist, only the casual, nebulous correlation to which many refer.
Well put.
Sheeeeesh!
I can't believe how many FReepers here have fallen for this media trick. The article is biased, written before the interviews airs, so the writer has a few moments to lead the public into a bushbashfest. Obviously this is not what Powell intended. He may have made some stipulations with 20/20 before agreeing to do the interview to make sure his comments weren't edited unduly, but I doubt he had any control of the authenticity in this article.
I agree. I think that appointing Secretary Powell to be the "Katrina Czar" would be a smart move on so many levels. For one thing, it would help reduce some of the political garbage coming from the 'Rats and actually help everyone focus on what practical steps to take to recover from this disaster.
And when he was SecState, he was a good soldier and did what the president asked.
But I think now he's running for president. On the Democratic ticket.
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