Katrina: The Question

At Harry's Place, a poster explains the thoughts and reactions of many of us who, from the other side of the Atlantic, are watching the Katrina disaster unfold:

The point, as seen from a European perspective, is not whose fault the whole dreadful hurricane business was, but that its aftermath took on such awful proportions. I (in the UK) follow the news regularly both in English and German, and not just on one broadcaster/ print medium. It is simply wrong to claim, as some in America appear to be doing, that the broadcasters/journalists to a man are all anti-American. They are not. The question that remains to baffle us is why on earth it took so long for anything to be done. The facts are incontrovertible, tens of thousands of people were left in the most appalling conditions, the forces of law and order collapsed, and this in the most powerful nation on earth, and one which regularly chides others for inefficiency. No one really cares whether or not the Mayor of New Orleans, or the governor of this state or that had 24 or 48 hours, or whether… waffle, waffle, waffle.

The point is that nothing was done in a country that regularly berates the rest of the world for its many failings. America always has, so it claims, the better solution to this or that problem. Do things the American way, we are told, and all will be well. So it defies belief that the excuses being made can have led to such a state of affairs. And if the reasons given, rivalry between political parties, national vs. state competence and the rest of it, are true, then they, too, are no excuse. On the contrary. America regularly, and rightly, takes the UN to task for its inability to get things done, demands less bureaucracy, less waste, etc. etc. etc. and then this! If America wishes to lead the rest of the world, to preach about how others should run their affairs, even to the extent of regime-change, then the kind of total incompetence on the part of officialdom the hurricane demonstrated is nothing of a scandal.

What is at stake is America's standing in the world. If this is how the most powerful and advanced nation on earth copes in a crisis, then what are other nations to do? Telling us, as various contributors have done, that there were all sorts of perfectly good reasons why nothing happened for some five days is merely passing the buck in the cheapest possible way. I am anything but anti-American, have stood by America in many an hour of need, and it would do no harm for America just for once to say, 'We made a right mess of it'. The pettifogging reasons don't matter. What does matter is that the US of A gets its act together, makes sure such a thing can never happen again, and that before others start pointing the finger and saying, 'Don't lecture us! In the last resort you're no better.'