The Big Easy

"There is growing evidence that hurricane Katrina was the work of Islamic terrorists. The wreckage of several planes can clearly be seen in amongst the debris that the category 5 storm left in its wake. Evidence has been found in New Orleans that could represent a direct link to Al Quaeda and although the terror organisation has yet to claim responsibility for the "Attack" American Government sources have said that it is almost definitely the work of Islamic Jihadists under the control of Osama Bin Laden."

Of course nobody has said what you've just read. This was not a terrorist attack on the American Homeland, or is it "The Fatherland"?. No, this was an act of god as they say, but was it a Christian God or an Islamic God? Was it a result of Global Warming and is it just a taste of things to come? Whatever it is and whatever you would like to imagine it is one thing is certain, it's the biggest natural disaster to hit America since the San Francisco earthquake in 1906.

It seems almost Impossible that New Orleans has been ignored for so long. A workable rescue plan should have been in place and ready to go for a long time before a situation like this one arose. In a city of such cultural, historical and psychic importance why was there no contingency plan in place ready to be acted upon when an inevitable disaster like this one arose. Vital funds, of course, have been diverted away from projects that would have provided for a situation like the one here. Defence and homeland security have swallowed the lions share of the budget available so that America, the worlds only "Superpower" can send thousands of troops and equipment with state of the art communications capabilities anywhere in the world at a moments notice but it can't organise a rescue operation in it's own back yard and, of course, this has been part of the problem for New Orleans. Vital manpower and hardware is tied up elsewhere on the planet. Troops and equipment that would been sent into the disaster zone as rescuers are simply not available to help. They're too busy in Iraq and Afghanistan trying to secure safe routes for stolen oil and gas and fighting a population who they've been terrorising for at least ten years already. It seems that the U.S.A. is just so much better at destroying another region or another country's infrastructure than it is at maintaining or rebuilding one of it's own.
George W. Bush is rhetorically at a loss when faced with a situation like the `New Orleans disaster. Without an enemy or a bogeyman to lay the blame at the door of he's lost for words. It becomes painfully apparent that he has no real resolve or any real leadership qualities of any value. His predatory Neo-Conservative advisers cannot find an angle for spin in this situation. In the flood waters of New Orleans Bush's gangster administration is hopelessly out of it's depth. Bush was of course in the middle of yet another holiday when hurricane Katrina struck and reluctantly cut it short but still didn't manage to visit the area until five days after the event. Like Nero he was fiddling while Rome burned or, rather, he golfed while America drowned. I hope that politically this will be the beginning of the end for this arrogant man and his dangerous administration who have done more in the last few years to divide and destabilise the world than any other American Presidency in living memory. Bush should have followed the words of his favourite philosopher a little more closely and built his political house on much higher ground.

Vincent Christ