Secrecy by Carol Wolman

Secrecy by Carol Wolman

The Bush government has been called the most secretive government in the history of the US.  Hurricane Katrina raises a host of questions, the answers to which are hidden.  Here are just a few that come to my mind.

 

What happened to all the money given to FEMA under the Homeland Security Act?  How come it is less able to respond to a hurricane now than prior to 9-11, when help was quick and efficient?

 

Why is the press being excluded from the cleanup of New Orleans?  Why doesn't the administration want independent verification of the number of people killed in the flooding?

 

There are rumors circulating that the levees were deliberately blown up.  Is this true?  Shouldn't such an accusation be investigated?

 

Why did FEMA turn away the agencies that usually help in a disaster- the Red Cross, the Army, Amtrak, civilian volunteers?

 

Why did Bush make a special point of returning the budget to Congress in June 2005 and demanding that funds for protection of New Orleans from flooding be slashed? 

 

Why have no-bid contracts for rebuilding the city already been handed out to Bush cronies like Halliburton?

 

Secrecy implies wrongdoing, information that needs to be hidden because its revelation would lead to accountability.  The investigation process is tedious and slow, and easily manipulated by perpetrators of evil.  Yet it must be carried out.  The calls for an independent body to look into what went wrong with the response to Katrina are important, although apt to be overlooked in the clamor over Roberts for the Supreme Court. 

 

It's time to demand answers, and restore transparency in government.  If the Bush administration is guilty of criminal negligence, conspiracy, profiteering in the case of Katrina, we have further grounds for impeachment.

 

Luke 8: ¹⁷For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.

 

In the name of the Prince of Peace,   Carol Wolman