Federal response to Katrina is under fire

Since not everyone in America can go down to New Orleans to help, the rest of us should not shut up about the incompetence and corruption of the Bush administration, as Max Boot suggests (Opinion, Sept. 7).

Considering that the CIA failed to expose the 9/11 plot, the Pentagon failed to plan for postwar Iraq, NASA failed to keep the shuttle from dropping parts on liftoff, and FEMA sat on its hands while people died in flooded attics in New Orleans, it is imperative that we ask why the federal government is so incompetent. If we do as Boot suggests and say nothing, we are failing in our duty as citizens of a democracy.

STEVE HARRINGTON

Cardiff by the Sea

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When right-wing hacks like Max Boot declare that it’s no time to play the blame game, you know his side is wrong. Long after President Clinton has left office, they’re still blaming him for everything.

MARGARET DONATO

Alhambra

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Re “U.S. Disaster Response Probe Pledged,” Sept. 7

I’m glad President Bush has decided to investigate the failures of the federal government’s response to the New Orleans catastrophe. With all the forewarning from experts, it should be pretty easy to track the line of responsibility. I just hope Americans won’t be waiting too long for him to fire those responsible, just like the Valerie Plame outing. I guess we’ll have to wait for the next administration to get an answer.

DAVID HITTELMAN

Santa Monica

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When I hear people criticize the government, I don’t think they understand this was a catastrophic event of unprecedented proportions. Frankly, I’m shocked at how fast and well organized the response was, considering the breadth of the disaster.

PAUL SCHOWALTER

Cypress

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It may well be the final irony that the one thing that brings down Bush and his faith-based presidency was an act of God.

ANGELO S. LAIACONA

Los Angeles

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Remember, you heard it here first. Vice President Cheney, from his luxury suite in the Superdome, will announce, “The flood is in its final throes.”

SHERWIN J. GERVER

Tarzana