The effects of Katrina are devastatingly tragic and
the worst has yet to be seen. The death toll will increase due to
discovery of more bodies, lack of resources, and the spread of
diseases. The outcome is a humanitarian disaster that we are unequipped
to handle.
The impoverished, of course, will be hit the
hardest and will have the fewest mechanisms for recovery. New Orleans
is one of the poorest cities in America. About 2/3 of its population is
Black. New Orleans has long been threatened by hurricanes and was
barely spared a disaster during Hurricane Ivan. Yet hurricane and flood
control funding has decreased significantly, despite the rising number
of ecological threats in 2004. The levee system proved to be woefully
inadequate. This dangerous neglect is epidemic in America; it is
well-known to all poor cities inhabited by minorities and starved of
resources and security. Only now, in New Orleans, the catastrophic
results are starkly evident.
And then there is the looting, a symptom of greed
and scarce resources. The looters have contributed significantly to the
rising number of casualties. Generators have been stolen from makeshift
hospitals. Ambulance drivers and hospital workers are too scared to do
their jobs. People are dying so looters can steal a television. Bush
has assured the people of Louisiana and Mississippi that the government
is prepared and that help is coming. He has assured them that the
National Guard is equipped to handle the situation.
But, sadly, it’s not true. According to the
Washington Post, "With thousands of their citizen-soldiers away fighting
in Iraq, states hit hard by Hurricane Katrina scrambled to muster forces
for rescue and security missions yesterday -- calling up Army bands and
water-purification teams, among other units, and requesting help from
distant states and the active-duty military." Supplies are not getting
to where they are needed and looters have free reign of the city. And a
huge reason is that Bush deceived the nation to launch a war and tie up
our resources in the ensuing occupation.
The disaster in Louisiana and Mississippi could not
have been prevented or, to some extent, predicted. But this is exactly
what a National Guard is for. There is chaos and people are dying, but
the Guard is fighting a lost (and illegal) cause in Iraq instead of
saving and protecting their neighbors and communities back home. They
need to be withdrawn and they need to be brought home today.
Our domestic policies have bred staggering
inequality and racism while our foreign policies have threatened
international stability, undermined international law, and spawned
humanitarian disaster. Those struck hardest by Katrina have more than
the weather to blame.