The second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is now upon us, and everybody is celebrating the successful rebuilding of New Orleans and other cities and towns on the Gulf Coast.
We wish. The truth is that the devastating effects of Katrina are as visible today as they were two years ago. Former homes stand in ruins, there are no utility services, two hospitals remain closed, and the levies are being rebuilt and strengthened in phases, slowly. People who fled to other states have no more reason to move back now than they did then.
Meanwhile, the Bush Administration has dumped $30 BILLION down a rathole called "let's rebuild Iraq," and at least $8.8 BILLION has disappeared. Guns, land mines and rocket launchers have been sold on the black market for cash, no receipts required, in what one whistleblower described as a "Wal-Mart for guns" only illegal. For his trouble he spent 97 days in a military prison outside Baghdad, classified as a "security detainee."
Can you visualize $30 billion? If you can you visualize $1 million, multiply by ten. Multiply by ten again, and then again. Now multiply by 30. That kind of money could rebuild New Orleans with new homes elevated above the floodplain behind new levies.
The inertia regarding New Orleans is not the exclusive fault of the federal government, but the feds have the resources to get something moving and they have squandered them in Iraq. Trying to rebuild any part of the Middle East is like feeding an alligator. An alligator will never learn to love you.
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