Gustav Scares Moira Whelan
She thinks something is wrong:
Moira Whelan: What's wrong with this Hurricane?: I just noticed that the daily brief customarily done in advance of a hurricane is happening because Gustav is bearing down on the Gulf Coast... is being given by NORTHCOM. So what does this tell us and why does it matter? It tells us that things are as broken as they were before Katrina.
The military, like EPA, Commerce, or anyone else, is only involved in emergency management to the point that they are requested to do so by the governor or the FEMA director.... If a governor is worried things are getting out of control, they ask the President to provide help through FEMA.... FEMA is then in charge of coordinating the resources of the federal government to support the governor and the state. In a sense, when FEMA is working properly--as it did under Clinton--when the FEMA director tells another Federal agency to do something, it's as if the President is calling. The government agency is expected to deliver and cut through red tape to make things happen and happen fast.
There is no allowance or legal authority for the Department of Defense to take any sort of control or command ... all work for FEMA and the governor.... This is done for a very specific and important reason: here in America, we believe that governors should have control over their own states. The federal government needs to be there to help, but they absolutely do not move in and take over....
With NORTHCOM taking the lead on briefing the public, it's clear the Bush Administration wants to send the message that everything is under control. Instead, to those that do [emergency response] for a living, the message is clear that everything is absolutely and completely broken. Perhaps the state governments need help. Perhaps FEMA is not up to the job. Perhaps the Bush Administration simply wants a uniform on camera.... NORTHCOM taking the lead in public relations is a clear indication that nothing has been fixed in DHS and FEMA since Katrina. As a result, there is no confidence in FEMA's ability to respond to this hurricane....
The other thing to remember here is that this is not a mission the military wants.... [T]heir job is to fight wars, not deal with disasters.... The bottom line is that things will not work the way they should with NORTHCOM in charge. Governors don't take orders from Generals. No one else in government takes orders from DoD. No one in emergency management even knows what NORTHCOM does, except come in and issue "orders" to a bunch of civilians who don't work for them.
I hope for the sake of the people on the Gulf Coast that the hundreds of civilians who want to do right by them prevail over the system that the Bush Administration has failed to fix.
