Sunday, October 02, 2005

DoD confirns what we all suspected: Iraq war hurt Katrina response

A must read. The Iraq war's casualties now extend into the Ninth Ward of New orleans. America come home!


Report: Iraq war hurt Katrina relief

LONDON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- A U.S. Defense Department report found the response to Hurricane Katrina was hampered by troop shortages due to the Iraq war, the Independent reported.

The British paper's online edition reported Sunday that the Defense Department study concluded Hurricane Katrina relief efforts suffered near catastrophic failures because of "corruption and mismanagement with the New Orleans city government," as well as divisions within the military.

"The U.S. military has long planned for war on two fronts," the Independent quoted the government report. "This is as close as we have come to (that) reality since (World War II); the results have been disastrous."

The Independent said the report includes details on how funding for flood control was diverted to other projects, and how military personnel had to "sneak off post" to help with relief efforts because their commander had refused permission.

The document was compiled by Stephen Henthorne, a former professor of the U.S. Army's War College and an adviser to the Pentagon who was a deputy-director in the Louisiana relief efforts, the Independent said.

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