Hurricanes and the Iraq War (10/11/2005)

Last month, as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita roared through the gulf coast and as the death toll climbed in the Iraq war, support for President Bush dropped to a new low. 67% of Americans disapprove of Bush’s handling of the war. His unnecessary war has weakened security at home, and Bush’s cronies, lacking critical skills and experience for their posts, were unable to prepare for and handle our homeland crises.

Disgust with both the Iraq war and Bush’s response to the hurricanes merged on September 24 as 250,000 Americans protested in Washington. One of their chants was “make levees, not war.” One participant said she came to protest because she was moved by what happened after Katrina. She said, “It made clear that while we spend all that money trying to impose our will on other countries, here at home in our own country, we can’t take care of each other.” Although the Bush administration was incredibly befuddled in handling the hurricane crisis, American individuals and various organizations clearly were up to the task.

Many of the Katrina stories underscored the contrast between the bumbling Bush bureaucracy and the ability of caring Americans to get things done. Here’s one of those stories. Peter Pantuso, head of one of the largest bus associations, offered a fleet of buses to help evacuation; tragically, he ran into bureaucratic brick walls. Pantuso had called the Federal Emergency Management Agency all day on August 31, trying to find someone who could tell him how many buses were needed and where they should be sent. He was unable to talk directly to anyone at FEMA, and got no call back. He learned on his own that FEMA was not handling the evacuation of residents from New Orleans, but had farmed the job out to a trucking logistics firm, Landstar Express America, which hired Carey limousine, which then hired a travel management company. Landstar had a $100 million federal contract for disaster transportation, but did not ask Carey limousine to order buses until 18 hours after Katrina hit. The limo company then searched around for buses, not knowing that two key bus companies, with 70% of the nation’s buses, had contacted FEMA about supplying buses. Victor Parra, president of the United Motor Coach Association, had called FEMA and could not talk directly to anyone either; he was referred to FEMA’s website on “doing business with FEMA.” Parra then learned of the limo company’s role only through his Washington contacts. Thanks only to the persistence of Pantuso and Parra, they were able to link up with Carey limousine to provide buses. By the way, Landstar Express is a subsidiary of Landstar System, a $2 billion business, headed by Jeff Crowe, the former chair of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a major business lobby.

- Judith Kohler

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