The Foxes Are Investigating the Foxes

With All of Their Professed Values and Patriotism, Why Has This Government Failed To Have a Serious Investigation of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina?

Any good American, especially one claiming that their values are better than yours, would demand to get to the truth no matter who gets in the way. Any good American patriot would demand to know why innocent people had to die or suffer from a situation that we as a country knew about and should have been prepared for. Yet, here is a government that has the authority and reason to conduct an immediate and intensive investigation into the causes and the failures connected with Hurricane Katrina; and yet this government insists on conducting their own investigation which
Increasingly seems like a sham.

Why not throw the investigation open? Why not enlist the best and the brightest to take part to eliminate any kind of suspicions about the government’s motives and failings?

Herbert's editorial "Blood on their Hands" explains why this government has dragged its heels on the follow up. . There is a pending cover-up that involves the foxes investigating the foxes. Where have we seen this before?

It doesn’t take too much contemplation to connect this embarrassment with the government’s failure to move forward with a serious investigation into what happened on 9-11. After one year, the government under pressure appointed Henry Kissenger to investigate 9-11 which is something like giving the back of your hand to honesty and integrity in government.

Doesn’t this raise more questions than it answers?

Wouldn't someone whose hands are clean demand an immediate investigation if for no other reason than to clear up any misunderstanding?. But in the case of 9-11, there are many reasons that they would want to hold investigators at bay. From the reason why the Arabs were gathered from all over the country and shipped out without even a casual investigation smacks of suspicious behavior especially in light of the fact that 17 out of 19 of the hijackers carried Saudi passports. Why did nothing come of that? Why didn't the media and the public simply demand that this government be held accountable for what it did and what it did not do? Why did nothing come of the fact that everything that happened the previous year spelled out an attack on the US from attempted hijackings in southeast Asia to the specific warnings that Bush received? A specific threat assessment stood on his desk just before he left for his vacation. And he did nothing. . Why did nobody raise the issue of the fact that those perpetrators of the first attack on the WTC carried plans of the WTC along with text documents that have still not been made public? Where was NORAD that had trained just the year before on the idea of two such hijackings aimed oddly at the WTC and the Pentagon? Why are there so many questions still unanswered surrounding the issue of 911 and our failure to be prepared or act to protect New York's citizenry?. The answer seems simple: There was more to lose than gain had they moved taken an investigation seriously.

Just look at what happened by comparison at Pearl Harbor.. They went from start to finish on Pearl Harbor by comparison before 9-11's probe could get launched. In one year, Peal Harbor was investigated and summary findings presented to the American people! And why then was the president so reluctant to go before the board and explain exactly what he knew and when he knew it?
Condy Rice's remarks alone seem to play fast and loose with the truth and I think more people have been left hanging after the investigation than before despite the fact that Tom Keene is an honest man who could not be bullied as Bush discovered.
When we think about Katrina, we cannot help think about how we need an independent commission to get at the truth. Bush must feel that what comes out will be worse than not conducting the investigation at all.. What he does not realize however is that Katrina has helped shape the perception of a government in disarray. And once the people put it all together and see that we could not even help one of our cities facing a long-standing threat will help them to understand that we do not know what we are doing in Iraq either. If this perception gets rooted, good bye Mr. Bush.

Yesterday, when general Casey was asked whether we would be able to start sending troops home soon, he reneged on his earlier words, saying that most insurrections last for a period of nine years. What does that infer? It means that we can look forward to seven more years of exposure for our still unprotected young men and women with no real solution in sight. Will the country sit still for the rising numbers of dead? What will happen when the president goes to congress asking for another 87 billion dollars when we can't even seem to get New Orleans up and running?

With Frist, Delay being investigated for possible corruption in two of our highest officials; and the leader of FEMA shown to be largely incompetent, with the VP's Chief of Staff being revealed as the leaker of secret information for what we can only surmise is political reasons, and Bush failing in the polls, it seems clear that this administration has more to explain than it is capable of.
It is now incumbent on the Dems to stand up and be counted and demand an independent investigation into the reasons why we were so badly prepared for what happened in the Gulf despite all of the warnings...

It just may be that we are watching a government that doesn't seem to know right from wrong self-destructing in front of our faces. .

Les Aaron