Re****t details US refusals of foreign aid after Katrina
07/27/2007 @[EMAIL PROTECTED]
1:49 pm
Filed by Nick Juliano
A new re****t reveals the US government turned down offers of help from
across the globe in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, telling one diplomat
"human assistance of any kind is not on our priorities list."
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The re****t from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Wa****ngton
relies on a review of 25,000 do***ents obtained from the State
Department. The re****t reveals the US was interested mostly in cash
assistance and materials, rather than direct aid from foreign relief
workers and doctors, after Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast in 2005.
"A review of the State Department do***ents reveals distressing
ineptitude," CREW's executive director Melanie Sloan said in a prepared
statement. "Countries were trying to donate desperately needed goods and
services, but as a result of bureaucratic bungling and indifference,
those most in need of these generous offers and of aid never received it."
Offers to help came from 145 countries and 12 international
organizations. The US did accept help from its top allies around the
globe, but CREW's re****t shows it left unclaimed hundreds of thousands
of prepared meals, water pumps, doctors and medicine.
Many of the offers were turned down because of a strict adherence to
bureaucratic regulations, the re****t reveals. For example, questions
about medical licensing prevented foreign-trained doctors from helping
in the Gulf Coast.
"All, The (sic) word here is that doctors of any kind are in the 'forget
about it' category," read an e-mail from the State Department responding
to an offer of assistance from Argentina. "Human assistance of any kind
is not on our priorities list ... It's all about goods, not people, at
this point."
A ban on British beef in place over fears of Mad Cow disease prevented
Meals Ready to Eat from the UK being given to Katrina refugees. The
uneaten MREs were kept in a storage unit at a cost of $16,000 per month,
according to the re****t.
The disorganization that plagued Katrina cleanup efforts also strained
diplomatic relations, when the US ignored offers of aid from other
countries.
"It is getting downright embarrassing here not to have a response to the
Estonians on flood relief," Jeffrey Goldstein, a U.S. Embassy official
in Estonia, wrote in an e-mail to several State Department officials.
"... We know that what the Estonians can offer is small potatoes and
everyone at FEMA is swamped, but at this point even 'thanks but no
thanks' is better than deafening silence."
An Israeli plane filled with supplies for the relief effort sat fully
loaded on an air****t tarmac for more than 48 hours because of a lack of
communication from the US, according to another e-mail released with the
re****t.
"The vendors are getting restless. They offered this stuff 48 hours ago,
and the government hasn't responded," wrote an unidentified State
Department official. "I've been on the phone with the [Israeli] attache
every couple of hours since noon ... they're patient, but not amused by
our delay, obviously."
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