Most likely. Playing dumb and compentent is an easy out.

Now being smart: if you had the ability to run various what-if scenerios ahead of time on something like this. You could pretty much predicate such things as collateral damag(they're just a bunch of poor blacks anyway), potential threat (short and long term) and such. You could also determine how much a rebuilding effort and dollars it would take to reconstruct. How many jobs it would create, not just there, but to handle the situation. (validate this with economic growth following the rebuilding after Katrina vs. economic growth prior too).

But wait - this is perfect - if help is deployed immediatly after the briefing none of the...

Most likely. Playing dumb and compentent is an easy out.

Now being smart: if you had the ability to run various what-if scenerios ahead of time on something like this. You could pretty much predicate such things as collateral damag(they're just a bunch of poor blacks anyway), potential threat (short and long term) and such. You could also determine how much a rebuilding effort and dollars it would take to reconstruct. How many jobs it would create, not just there, but to handle the situation. (validate this with economic growth following the rebuilding after Katrina vs. economic growth prior too).

But wait - this is perfect - if help is deployed immediatly after the briefing none of the above would have much impact on the economy or contracts awared. Oh and it would only keep the media attention off of Iraq for maybe a week. But now - if we wait until things go to hell - then we get 2 months of attention off of Iraq, surge in economics and the housing market in that region for rebuilding spikes.

Note: Keep all communication on this only via phone and let some other poor saps take the fall down the line since they will use email to communicate.

Dunno if Mr. Bush would do this, but I can certainly believe Cheney and the rest of the administration could be capable of this. Heck, Haliburton could use some more contracts. I think Mr. Bush might just be a very good puppet in all this.

skwirlinator - I disagree

Hindsight is 20/20.

I'm sure Bush knows what would happen if
there was a slip at the New Madrid Fault. I'm sure he knows what would
happen if a tsunami hit the East Coast.

Yes - the difference is he was breifed 24 hours prior. They could have activated US National Guard troops from various points in the country and had them there in less then 8 hours to begin moving people to better locations or getting them on buses, etc.

Granted the houses would have been wiped out and such, but the people impact would have been reduced.

The problem I have is they sat on this information. They also trickled out important information slowl...

skwirlinator - I disagree

Hindsight is 20/20.

I'm sure Bush knows what would happen if
there was a slip at the New Madrid Fault. I'm sure he knows what would
happen if a tsunami hit the East Coast.

Yes - the difference is he was breifed 24 hours prior. They could have activated US National Guard troops from various points in the country and had them there in less then 8 hours to begin moving people to better locations or getting them on buses, etc.

Granted the houses would have been wiped out and such, but the people impact would have been reduced.

The problem I have is they sat on this information. They also trickled out important information slowly.

Thus my comment about collateral damage. Someone weighed the odds and saw a bigger profit in letting things play out and then doing the rebuilding efffort.

I do partially agree with you on your comment about

Bush didn't build a city 'below sea-level'

He didn't - BUT he is helping them rebuild and waste tax dollars to put a city back there. The deal should have been to move things to a new location. If you want a home or business there, then do it without tax dollars.

Well local gov'ts are certinaly not capable of handling a natural diasaster. The state's only have national guard at their resource. Something the size of Katrina would have been Fed level.

The scary thing is that many high up in all gov'ts know more about the bird flu problem then is being said. But consider that there is only a small quantity of Tamiflu (not that it even works well) - but the buying is at the Federal level.

Let's say you were a top level and knew that 45 million of your population could be wiped out. If you let too much info out, then you could start a panic (especially since there is no cure). Likewise you simply cannot shut things down because that imapct econom...

Well local gov'ts are certinaly not capable of handling a natural diasaster. The state's only have national guard at their resource. Something the size of Katrina would have been Fed level.

The scary thing is that many high up in all gov'ts know more about the bird flu problem then is being said. But consider that there is only a small quantity of Tamiflu (not that it even works well) - but the buying is at the Federal level.

Let's say you were a top level and knew that 45 million of your population could be wiped out. If you let too much info out, then you could start a panic (especially since there is no cure). Likewise you simply cannot shut things down because that imapct economically will create potenitally worse problems.

The avaian flu is not predictable in terms of it's path -but it is known how lethal it can be. The hurricanes we knew the path, how lethal, and the area to be affected. So why did no one act on that. Again is it that the people there were less valued? Why was the area of Texas only a few weeks later evacuated so quickly in comparision? Maybe it does boil down to population control or economic potential?

No matter what - the bottom line is that it was poor leadership at all levels from the mayor, to the govenor, to the President. People failed to take action and many people died.