We recently wrote about how National Guard troops needed
for disaster relief in New Orleans have been
diverted
to the Iraq war. Now it turns out that Federal money
earmarked to repair the levee system has been diverted to
Iraq as well.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requested $27 million to
pay for hurricane protection projects around Lake
Pontchartrain. The Bush administration offered them less than
$4 million, and Congress eventually gave them $5.7 million.
The corps requested $18 million specifically to repair and
strengthen New Orleans levees. Instead, their annual budget
was reduced 20% because the money was needed for the
war in Iraq.
The corps had to delay seven projects that would have
enlarged the levees. Most of the destruction in New Orleans
caused by hurricane Katrina happened because breaches in
these levees allowed water from Lake Pontchartrain to pour
into the city until 80% of New Orleans was under water.
In 2002, Bush fired Army Corps chief Michael Parker after
Parker tried to push through a number of flood control
projects, including a proposal to spend $188 million to build a
flood control pump in the Mississippi river. Parker, who is a
Republican, says, "I'm not saying [New Olreans] wouldn't still
be flooded, but I do feel that if it had been totally funded,
there would be less flooding than you have."
Art credit: http://www.freeimages.co.uk
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