First of all, let's wait to examine the mistakes of the last decades and the days before the hurricane as well as the reaction to the hurricane. Perhaps this disaster simply shows how poorly New Orleans city government would do in a terror attack. Or the state of Louisiana. Maybe the federal government has made serious errors that would translate to problems reacting to an attack, but complaints that the Navy wasn't letting the hurricane suck its ships into Mobile and New Orleans in the wake of the hurricane in order to arrive a couple hours later is stupid. Where are the ships and why are they taking so long? Well they were safely out of the way and set sail shortly after the hurricane. The military even moved relief supplies anticipating the crisis and even now are moving into the region in sizable numbers. So I'll wait to assess blame. Perhaps some blame can fall on people shooting at rescue teams. Perhaps some blame can fall on those city police who turned in their badges rather than do their jobs, letting combat veterans of Iraq just returned restore order for them.
But to say this shows we are unprepared for a terror attack is misplaced.
Check out this map that shows the extent of the damaged area. The transportation network of this region was hit hard.
Large areas in two states were devastated. Had terrorists destroyed a levee (and I don't know if terrorists could do that), it would have been a point attack with the surrounding area untouched. Help would not have had to wait for highways and airports and nearby ports to dry out. Sure, more people would have been in New Orleans itself since there would have been no evacuation order, but the response could have driven and flown to the city quickly to respond.
Caerdroia has a good post on the problem of rescuing a city from this level of disaster. Jeff touches on a number of areas that I am in agreement with. The reality-based community might want to reflect on this before screaming and leaping.
So unless critics are claiming that terrorists would have set off tens of thousands of bombs in a triangle from Mobile, Alabama to New Orleans to Columbus, Mississippi to augment the levee attack by breaking the transportation network spanning three states, I suggest this line of attack is seriously off the mark.
And hopefully, if 9-11 hasn't made locals take contingency planning seriously, this will do the trick. The federal government simply cannot plan for every community. We really aren't a Bushtatorship, but a federal government that requires state and local governments--not to mention individual citizens--to exercise a great amount of repsonsibility.
UPDATE: Carafano has a useful article on the difficulties:
Anyone watching cable news knows what needs to be done. But watching a disaster on television is one thing, and dealing with the realities on the ground is another. Getting into an area that has experienced the equivalent of a nuclear strike, absent the explosion, fire, and radiation is another. It is a monumental challenge.
Can we please focus on the victims and put aside political attacks for a bit? I'm sure errors from LBJ to George W. Bush and at every level of government will be identified in due time. But keep in mind that had Katrina not struck, all those who absolutely know who is to blame would have gone blissfully on in their lives never mentioning the vulnerability of New Orleans.
