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George Bush and Than Shwe, Katrina and Nargis: A Study in Style
It would be unfair to compare the response of Myanmar Junta leader, Than Shwe, to Cyclone Nargis to George Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina. For one thing, the two disasters were separated by thousands of miles. Furthermore, Burma initially rejected all foreign aid whereas Mr. Bush only rejected aid from Cuba.
Of course, both Mr. Bush and Mr. Than knew in advance of the approaching disasters. On May 6, 2008, a spokesman for the Indian Meteorological Department said Burmese agencies had been given 48 hours' notice of the cyclone's advent, including its point of crossing, its severity and all related issues. There was no acknowledgement of the warning from the Myanmar government.
Mr. Bush was told the Sunday before the Monday Katrina struck that the city's flood defenses could fail in such a storm. The National Weather Service issued a special hurricane warning saying most of New Orleans would be uninhabitable for weeks and "water shortages will make human suffering incredible by modern standards." Unlike Mr. Than, Mr. Bush acknowledged these warnings. He said the government was fully prepared to help. He was wrong, of course, but not on purpose.
Monday morning Mr. Bush was again warned about the potential devastation of Katrina and was told the government might lack the capacity to deal with it. He did not let that interfere with the day's planned activities. Mr. Bush talked about immigration issues with the head of the Department of Homeland Security. He then shared a birthday cake photo-op with his old friend, Senator John McCain, and, after learning that the 17th Canal levee in New Orleans had breached, went off to Arizona to promote Medicare Drug benefits. By late afternoon he was at a California senior center where he discussed the Medicare drug benefit. At 8 that night the governor of Louisiana told the president she needed everything Mr. Bush could provide to deal with the emergency. Mr. Bush said nothing. He went to bed.
Tuesday afternoon Mr. Bush joined country singer, Mark Willis, for a photo op, Mr. Bush holding a guitar and the singer smiling at the playful president. Mr. Bush then returned to Texas to finish up his vacation. He let it be known that he would begin work the following day with a task force to coordinate relief efforts.
It took Mr. Than two weeks to meet victims and see the destruction for himself. As soon as Mr. Bush finished his vacation Wednesday, he flew back to Washington, making a detour, however, to fly over New Orleans so he could see for himself how bad things were. A picture was taken of him looking out the airplane window at the devastation below, the sort of picture that could not be published of Mr. Than since he never did that.
As different as the responses of the two leaders to their respective disasters were, there is one sad similarity. Many Burmese will die or permanently suffer the effects of the government's unwillingness to permit foreign aid to enter the country until long after the disaster had struck. By contrast, within days after Katrina struck, FEMA ordered $2.7 billion worth of trailers and mobile homes to house those left homeless using a single page of specifications. Joseph Hagerman, a Federation of American Scientists expert who is helping develop new emergency housing is quoted in the Washington Post as saying: "I can't believe that we bought a billion dollars' worth of product with a 25-line spec. There's not much you can do in 25 lines to protect life safety." He is right. There is now a health catastrophe among the 300,000 people living in those homes.
The problems first surfaced in 2006. Scott Needle, a pediatrician in Bay St. Louis said children living in the trailers were coming in to see him with respiratory complaints that occurred repeatedly. The Sierra Club tested the air in 44 trailers and in 40 of them the concentration of formaldehyde was more than .1 parts per million. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health says workers should not be exposed to that level of concentration for more than 15 minutes at a time. Responding to the initial complaints FEMA spokesman, Aaron Walker, said out of 115,000 trailers being used there had then been only 20 complaints and they could easily be resolved by increasing ventilation in the trailers.
In the two years since Mr. Walker spoke, the number of complainants has increased. According to the Post, 17,000 residents of the trailers have joined in a class action lawsuit against the Federal Government and the trailer manufacturers alleging health consequences from living in the trailers including respiratory illnesses and cancer.
Only time will tell if the illnesses affecting the families and the presence of formaldehyde in the trailers furnished by the government is anything more than coincidental. Here is one thing that is definitely coincidental: any similarity between George Bush's response to Katrina and Than Shwe's response to Cyclone Nargis.
Christopher Brauchli; brauchli.56@post.harvard.edu For his political commentary see http://humanraceandothersports.com
22 Comments so far
Show AllThe comparison by Brauchli is apt and sad. That the government of the USA is as inept as Burma's SLORC is a pathetic indication of how far the United States has fallen under the corrupt aegis of Dubya, Cheney, & Co.
The comparison is not completely fair. The Bush administration failed in Katrina because of their stupidity and incompetence, not so much malice and meanness, which is the problem with the Burmese junta.
Chris Brauchli is quite correct in his first statement: "It would be unfair to compare the response of Myanmar Junta leader, Than Shwe, to Cyclone Nargis to George Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina."
As a progressive, there's virtually nothing that I find admirable in the record of the Bush-Cheney Administration.
However, it would be unfair and inaccurate to compare Bush's negligence and mismanagement of Katrina with the Burmese military junta's blocking, diversion, and stealing of aid coupled with the regime's sealing off of the cyclone-affected regions from the press and aid workers. Burma's generals have even forced people out of the shelter of monasteries and imprisoned Burmese citizens who have raised money to distribute aid directly to those in need.
The only admirable part of Bush's record is his strong support for the Burmese democracy movement and his increased funding to combat AIDS in Africa. However, in both of those cases, Bush built on - and, to be fair, did indeed go further than - Clinton's initiatives. Bush also did so with strong support from Congress.
At the risk of blog rolling, please check out my more expansive blog entries on this subject at: http://simonbillenness.blogspot.com
Both governments reviewed aid from other countries. A plane set on Geneva's tarmac because they had no clearance. We threw away British meat. We didn't let in Cuban doctors. Not exactly the same, but still it was political leaders putting politics before peoplel.
Don't bet on lack of meanness coming from the Bush administration; they are cold blooded killers. And don't forget Dick Cheney or Barbara Bush for that matter. She should be shunned. These people do not give a damn about anyone outside of their tight circle and that is the truth.
The two governments are not inept, they are out to destroy their respective peoples.
The result is the intention. Get it?
This article is swill. We all know the hideous facts in both situations. I strongly suspect this article was written for the sake of getting something in print. Mr. Brauchli can do better.
In Burma the puppet government denied food and help for its people yet reopened schools. They refused the US help because bush sent two Naval War Ships to help[w/o prior permission], the Myanmar puppet gov't refused because they said they did not trust Bush's intentions, can you blame them? Still food and cadaver dogs as well as looking for signs of life should have been allowed.
What the Murderer in Chief did is NOT RESPOND to Katrina despite all of the evidence beforehand, he chose to "Let Them Eat Cake. Actually he ate cake with McInsane, instead. Oh but that gosh darned fly-over what a HELP! Akin to the 7 minutes it took for him to move his pimply ass during 9/11. Love 'em or hate 'em Brad Pitt did fund a particular housing design for the 9th District[shouldn't it be Parish?], so hopefully I am not moderated for the link, so no html just the site link:
http://www.archinect.com/features/article.php?id=68296_0_23_24_M
Although it wasn't chosen it was sustainable and comfortable and he was funding the entire project, Goddess forbid the gov't should s'pose that 3.3 Trillion has given China possession of Guam and Puerto Rico by now, too bad it wasn't Israel.
Oh but OH was the response different when the gazillion $$$ homes in the Hollywood Hills were aflame[you remember;Fema Meet Fema]of course they had hired KBR or some other Nazi group to spray flame retardent chemicals on some homes. Geez Bob your house didn't burn, mine is to the foundation. Those fires sure are funny, huh?
"... Mr. Bush only rejected aid from Cuba."
That's not completely accurate. The Guardian reported that Bush rejected aid from Venezuela (Bush rejects Chávez aid). The USA today reported that his administration accepted it. It also reported that his administration rejected aid from Iran (Some foreign attempts to send U.S. aid stymied).
InjunTrouble, knowingly harbor and encourage stupidity and incompetence is nothing short of malice and meanness.
Bush didn't act to save the victims of Katrina. Than Shwe didn't act to save the victims of Nargis. One said "Let them eat cake." The other, "Let them eat frogs." Same difference. Both are ignorant brutal tyrants, responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths in wars of their own pursuing.
George W. Bush deserves no credit whatsoever for his posturing as a benefactor in the Delta or for his empty words on Burmese democracy.
At least we have the comfort of knowing that the laws of kamma work whether believed in or not. Yes, intention is everything!
In their own small realm, the Burmese generals are all powerful. For the commenters to question their "motives" or "compassion" is foolish. They cannot be held accountable any more than the cyclone is "responsible" for hitting Burma. They are a force of Nature which is indifferent to human affairs.
The Bush administration is similarly a force of Nature on a world-wide scale, in that it delivers death and destruction on a broader scale, only (relctantly) obeying the laws of physics.
Expecting "human considerations" such as compassion, or empathy in either case is illogical. They are what they are, live with it.
Thank you Christopher Braquchli for45 saying what ocurred to me the first time I heard the Bush Adminstration's whiney protests of the unwillingness of Burma (or Myammar if you prefer)to accept the aid offered. What about Katrina?
Not mentioned by the author but equally telling were the Bush Adminstration's refusal of:
medical aid from Cuba
Subsidized cost petroleum from Venezuela
Food and water aid from Sweden
Dike repair teams from the Netherlands to assist in repairing the broken levees.
Other coutries' offers of cash and other types of relief aid.
After reading Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine: "The Rise of Disaster Capitalilsm", the reasons for such conduct become more obvious.
Bush and his factionaries failed because it is hard to govern when you don't believe in government. As a result A LOT of resources were squandered.
It is still stunning to see how the business sector of New Orleans has come back so much faster than the community aspect of it. And some of that seems to be by design.
I am not sure that in terms of net impact there was much difference in Bush's response and that of Than Shwe. In both instances people have been left suffering and IF they survived it is clear that their government has little interest in their future if they do not have the wherewithal to assure it independently.
Injun Trouble
"The Bush administration failed in Katrina because of their stupidity and incompetence, not so much malice and meanness, which is the problem with the Burmese junta."
You don't think it's mean and malicious to ignore a catastrophe for days after it happened? You don't think Bushco was actually pleased by the Katrina instant slum clearance program which displaced much of the black population and opened the way to turn New Orleans into another Orlando? The administration's response demonstrates the sort of sociopathology, the meanness and the malice of a baby Caligula, which is exactly what Bush is.
~ PURVIS AMES ~
Although I actually agree with you, I wanted to clarify that there is a wicked and nefarious purpose -- in bu$h!t pretending/portraying that our Federal gov't is incompetent.
Consider that the GOPyschopathetics are mandating outsourcing ( like to Black_feculent_Water ) and eroding American's confidence in having a gov't that supports their needs and interests.
Thus, it is actually worse than you thought ( them capable of ).
Sorry to drop the floor down a notch or two, but it was really an illusion anyway.
Namaste
"The Bush administration failed in Katrina because of their stupidity and incompetence, not so much malice and meanness,"
Can't help but recall Babs Bush mentioning ho well this has all worked out for the poor people, really.
And Burma's junta rejected aid from the US because they did not want the US within their borders - on any pretext. Sucks to be a burmese peasant, but the Junta - from their POV - have a point.
Injun Trouble
Wrong you are. The reason that the Bush administration did not respond to Katrina is New Orleans is heavly populated by black people. They especially wanted to get rid of the blacks who were too poor to flee. (did not own a car etc.) It was a racist policy.,
The Bush Regime is even more liable because it had the money, the infrastructure, and the organizational muscle to make a difference in New Orleans --- and simply chose to dawdle. Burma is a poor country with poor infrastructure and little skilled human capital. The generals in SLORC are total assholes looking after themselves but they DID accept assistance from China, India, and developing countries. They also allowed a few Western charities to assist. You will not find that kind of info in American/UK corporate mouthpieces but its true. SLORC is evidently wary of the 'democracy promoters' and Christian proselytizers that run shotgun with Western assistance teams. And, as was evident after the 2004 tsunami, poor countries simply cannot absorb the aid that donors rush in. Last point, do not discount the incredible work done by local teams to provide relief. Such people provided brilliant assistance after the tsunami while Western NGOs sat in luxury hotels waiting for the luxury 4x4s they had ordered.
I spent six days in New Orleans after Katrina struck. I was standing in the back yard of
the home of a friend in uptown New Orleans Wednesday morning, Aug 31, when I heard a passenger jet approaching flying low. I looked up and saw the belly of Bush's plane as it passed.
I lived in a neighborhood where many of the poor people lived who told me they had no cash and no car and could not evacuate. The floodwaters stopped three blocks from my
house on Jackson Ave. They stopped at the intersection of Jackson Avenue and Baronne St.
I cannot help but ask this question:
Has anyone done any statistical or demographic studies to determine how many of the poor black people who could not evacuate ever contributed cash to Bush's election campaigns or to the Republican party or any other Republican candidates in New Orleans or Louisiana?
Has anyone from Bush's staff ever visited New Orleans since Katrina and interviewed any of the returned homeowners and renters in the Ninth Ward and any other neighborhoods in the 80% of New Orleans that flooded to determine how much and what kind of help they need?
Of course that question begs another question: What has Bush's staff said or done to
give any help, hope or promise of return to those evacuees like me, who live elsewhere
but wish to return to New Orleans, but cannot because of high rents?
Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and yes, Governor Kathleen Blanco, deserve plenty of blame for
their incompetence in the face of an unprecedented crisis.
I can only ask others to give me and my fellow evacuees suggestions regarding how we
may find ourselves able to return to New Orleans to find affordable housing and
jobs that will pay us an living wage.
My body left New Orleans on Sunday, September 4, 2005. My heart will never leave New
Orleans.
May God bless every evacuee and every internally displaced person who wants to return
to New Orleans as badly as I do.
Jim Martin Geneva Alabama
For Americans to blame Myanmar should remember the old saying, "people in glass houses..."
In both cases, the neglect was deliberate, and likely undertaken with a suitably-fashioned upperclass smirk and the clinking of champagne glasses.