Raising the Threat Level

Raising the Threat Level

How would FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security respond if Al Queda, three days before doing so, warned us they were about to destroy a specific major American city?

Essentially, that’s what Katrina did. For three days, we watched the storm gather strength in the gulf. Long before landfall, every single local newscast screamed, "This is going to be a nightmare hurricane! Category Five! Get out! Get out!" If the Weather Channel knew Katrina was a monster storm, capable of vast devastation, our government certainly should have known about it.

And yet — no response to Katrina for days. For days. As recently as this weekend, we’ve been told that government aid still hasn’t materialized on the coast. If CNN and Good Morning America can make it to Biloxi, why can’t FEMA?

Wal-Mart was on the scene faster than Washington. Heck, yesterday I spoke with a leader of twenty-two NAACP Youth volunteers who’ve made two trips to Biloxi in a white Ford van. During their time on the coast, they saw no Federal aid being delivered at all.

We had three days of warning. Three precious days to organize a response and get Americans out of harm’s way. Three days to put boats, trucks, and busses in place to get aid in to the residents of New Orleans. Beyond this, we had piles of intelligence — dozens of studies from academics, engineers, and journalists — clearly predicting that a hurricane of this size anywhere near New Orleans would destroy the city.

The world is watching us. Nations and organizations, unfriendly to America and American interests, have just received dramatic confirmation of our nation’s complete inability to respond to attacks with intelligence and foresight.

If the Department of Homeland Security could not foresee, prepare for, and respond to Katrina with three days of warning and piles of detailed studies of impact already in place …

… do you really think the Department of Homeland Security can do anything, anything at all, to protect you from forces who will attack suddenly, without warning?

How would FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security respond if Al Queda, three days before doing so, warned us they were about to destroy a specific major American city?

Essentially, that’s what Katrina did. For three days, we watched the storm gather strength in the gulf. Long before landfall, every single local newscast screamed, "This is going to be a nightmare hurricane! Category Five! Get out! Get out!" If the Weather Channel knew Katrina was a monster storm, capable of vast devastation, our government certainly should have known about it.

And yet — no response to Katrina for days. For days. As recently as this weekend, we’ve been told that government aid still hasn’t materialized on the coast. If CNN and Good Morning America can make it to Biloxi, why can’t FEMA?

Wal-Mart was on the scene faster than Washington. Heck, yesterday I spoke with a leader of twenty-two NAACP Youth volunteers who’ve made two trips to Biloxi in a white Ford van. During their time on the coast, they saw no Federal aid being delivered at all.

We had three days of warning. Three precious days to organize a response and get Americans out of harm’s way. Three days to put boats, trucks, and busses in place to get aid in to the residents of New Orleans. Beyond this, we had piles of intelligence — dozens of studies from academics, engineers, and journalists — clearly predicting that a hurricane of this size anywhere near New Orleans would destroy the city.

The world is watching us. Nations and organizations, unfriendly to America and American interests, have just received dramatic confirmation of our nation’s complete inability to respond to attacks with intelligence and foresight.

If the Department of Homeland Security could not foresee, prepare for, and respond to Katrina with three days of warning and piles of detailed studies of impact already in place …

… do you really think the Department of Homeland Security can do anything, anything at all, to protect you from forces who will attack suddenly, without warning?

Mark McElroy

I'm a husband, mystic, writer, media producer, creative director, tinkerer, blogger, reader, gadget lover, and pizza fiend.

1 comment

  • … do you really think the Department of Homeland Security can do anything, anything at all, to protect you from forces who will attack suddenly, without warning?

    No I do not think so. I believe our current administration is in league to turn our nation in to a third world country, and race and social status will determine where in the scheme of things a person will end up. The response or the lack of it in these devastated areas is just a form of genocide much like Hitler, Stalin or Soddam Hussein would have used.I also believe religious groups will be attacked in much the same manner in the near future. I do not doubt that the Bush administration is a member of the foretold anti-Christ.

Who Wrote This?

Mark McElroy

I'm a husband, mystic, writer, media producer, creative director, tinkerer, blogger, reader, gadget lover, and pizza fiend.

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