Ex-FEMA Chief Tells of Frustration and Chaos - New York Times

In his first extensive interview since resigning as FEMA director on Monday under intense criticism, Mr. Brown declined to blame President Bush or the White House for his removal or for the flawed response.

"I truly believed the White House was not at fault here," he said.

He focused much of his criticism on Governor Blanco, contrasting what he described as her confused response with far more agile mobilizations in Mississippi and Alabama, as well as in Florida during last year's hurricanes.

Brownie's trying to be a good soldier here, insisting that the problem lay with the (Democrat) governor, (black, Democrat) mayor, and their employees. Unfortunately, he's hasn't completely covered the grenade for the Bush White House platoon.

In addition to claiming that the state and local response was obviously inadequate, he implies that he informed DHS Secretary Chertoff, White House Chief of Staff Card, and others of the nature of the crisis. This means that Brownie's version of events has him realizing pretty early on that the situation in NOLA needed federal intervention, and that he said as much to his superiors.

Naturally, this raises the question of why FEMA, DHS, or the White House didn't move faster and more forecefully to cut the bullshit procedure and mobilize federal resources, rather than relying on state assets (like Guard troops and equipment).

Here's a question I've not seen asked nor answered: why would it come as a surprise that Louisiana's response was disorganized? In one fell swoop, they lost their largest city, their economic engine, media capital, and transportation hub. Wouldn't a reasonable first assumption be that Louisiana, for all practical intents and purposes, had been "decapitated" once the levees broke?