One more thing about disasters and politics.

I meant what I said here, and what I said goes for the Right as well as the Left. I notice some pro-Bush bloggers are posting lists along the lines of "look at all the off-the-wall comments those lefty moonbats are making". That, too, is politicizing the tragedy. It's counterproductive. Getting bogged down in this kind of game is a waste of time and resources.

People who choose to give, and are able to do so, will give. I hope you are one of them. Those who choose not to will have their own rationalizations; forget them. Just do what you have to do and move on.

Red Cross
list of relief agencies at Instapundit


PS - Gay Orbit gives a salute to MoveOn.org for its Hurricane Housing program. As Gay Orbit says, "This is not a partisan disaster."

"Where are the Guardsmen?"

It's a reasonable question. James S. Robbins has some answers at NRO:

So is the war in Iraq causing troop shortfalls for hurricane relief in New Orleans?

In a word, no.

A look at the numbers should dispel that notion. Take the Army for example. There are 1,012,000 soldiers on active duty, in the Reserves, or in the National Guard. Of them, 261,000 are deployed overseas in 120 countries. Iraq accounts for 103,000 soldiers, or 10.2 percent of the Army.

That’s all? Yes, 10.2 percent. That datum is significant in itself, a good one to keep handy the next time someone talks about how our forces are stretched too thin, our troops are at the breaking point, and so forth. If you add in Afghanistan (15,000) and the support troops in Kuwait (10,000) you still only have 12.6 percent.

So where are the rest? 751,000 (74.2 percent) are in the U.S. About half are active duty, and half Guard and Reserve. The Guard is the real issue of course — the Left wants you to believe that the country has been denuded of its citizen soldiers, and that Louisiana has suffered inordinately because Guardsmen and women who would have been available to be mobilized by the state to stop looting and aid in reconstruction are instead risking their lives in Iraq.

Not hardly. According to Lieutenant General H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, 75 percent of the Army and Air National Guard are available nationwide. In addition, the federal government has agreed since the conflict in Iraq started not to mobilize more than 50 percent of Guard assets in any given state, in order to leave sufficient resources for governors to respond to emergencies.

In Louisiana only about a third of Guard personnel are deployed, and they will be returning in about a week as part of their normal rotation. ...

Read it all at the link.

UPDATE: Let me add a couple of comments. I think Robbins' article in defense of the Guard deployments is good as far as it goes, but I don't want to just leave the issue here. Whether NG strength is diminished by a third, a quarter, or a tenth, it is nevertheless inescapable that every National Guardsman serving in Iraq is one National Guardsman not serving in the Continental United States. Every troop dedicated to the just and necessary war on terrorism and fascism is a troop deducted from the aggregate number of troops available for domestic emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina. In short, a glass half empty is still half empty.

James Robbins' numbers make me feel a little better, but we still need to address Americans' legitimate concerns about domestic security. I'll post more on this next week.

Michael Totten to Portlanders: Don't Get Too Comfy

Michael J. Totten offers this wake-up call in Donklephant

... The reason I say it could have been Portland’s day to die is because it really could have been Portland’s day to die. New Orleans is menaced by wind and water. Portland is threatened by earth and fire.

Mt. Tabor rises above residential neighborhoods near the geographic center of the city. That small mountain was forged in an eruption. Houses are built all the way up it, bang on top of the volcano. Spend a little time looking at underground maps of tectonic fault lines and you’ll feel like gigantic gun barrels are pointed up at the city from below, loaded and ready to fire as soon as the sinister order is given. Oregon is scheduled for something like a mind-boggling 9.0 earthquake between tomorrow and the next couple of hundred years. I probably won’t see it. But I might. I really might. My house was built in the late 1800s before we knew what awaited below.There’s no way it can withstand that kind of violence. ...

Read the whole thing at the link.

Winds of Change has an outstanding round-up of disaster preparation ideas.

Prayers from Baghdad ...

... for New Orleans:

It seems that we were pretty much occupied with the bridge tragedy in Baghdad that we didn't keep track of the news elsewhere till last night when I discovered the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis in the hurricane affected areas in the US.
I wish there was a way I could offer some help but there's nothing but prayers I can give from where I am.
Knowing that people are dying and suffering in Louisiana hurts just as much as if that suffering and death were in Baghdad.
Those people are in our thoughts and prayers. May God help them and guide their rescuers.

Thanks, Omar. Your words mean a lot to me. We're all citizens of one world here.

On Tragedy

So, whose fault was Katrina? Some people want to blame homosexuals; others say it's the fault of President Bush. The deaths in the recent stampede in Baghdad could be put down to the terrorists or to Islamic fundamentalism, or if you prefer you could blame the Iraqi and US authorities.

I think this is all pretty stupid. There's a time and a place to look for answers. Do you want to talk about hurricanes and global warming? Well, I think there are sensible, well-informed people on both sides of the issue, but let us suppose that industry-related global warming does exist, and that there is a causal link between global warming and hurricanes, and that the Bush Administration has not done all it could to prevent global warming. If you want to argue this case, fine!!! But even if you can prove that all of these things are true, it does not entitle you to say that "Bush caused the hurricane." That's just insane. Weather patterns - like the movements of crowds - are complex and unpredictable. It makes no sense to point to one thing, after the fact, and say, "this is what caused that to happen."

The period immediately following a tragedy should be treated with a little bit of respect. Out of respect for the lives lost, and out of respect for the first task at hand, which is to save the lives and property that can be saved. (Oh, by the way, have you made your donation to the Red Cross yet?) We need to keep our priorities in order. It's human nature to want to find an explanation - or a scapegoat - for any great tragedy. And there is a place for looking for answers, and, if need be, for assigning blame. But this should wait.

New Orleans is still under water, for God's sake. Can't you at least wait until they've finished burying the dead before you start the political finger-pointing?

Last January, I posted an abstract of Rabbi Leonard Oppenheimer's remarks on the tsunami tragedy. Rabbi Oppenheimer's words are worth reading again now; please visit the post if you have a moment.

Oh, and for those who can't make up their mind whether to blame the evil Republicans or the evil homosexuals for the hurricane in New Orleans, I think I've found the answer:

Who to Blame for Katrina

Morning Report: September 1, 2005

Hurricane Katrina devastates Gulf Coast. As many as 60,000 people are fleeing New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. 'Police and National Guard troops struggled to restore order Thursday in New Orleans, where looters and armed gangs were roaming the streets of the flooded city. As thousands of people slept on streets, interstate access ramps and bridges. Outside the New Orleans Convention Center, a huge crowd waited on the sidewalks for aid that could be a long time coming. Authorities worked to evacuate the 25,000 people who had taken shelter from Hurricane Katrina in the Superdome, but the number of people seeking to get out of the city grew. "It's no longer just evacuees from the Superdome, as citizens who were holed up in high-rise office buildings and hotels saw buses moving into the dome, they realized this is an evacuation point," Lt. Col. Pete Schneider of the Louisiana National Guard said. He estimated between 50,000 and 60,000 people were seeking evacuation.' Looting and lawlessness have been problems in Mississippi and Louisiana: '“There’s so many people there. It’s a desperate situation with no air conditioning and no water,” Louisiana National Guard Lt. Col. Pete Schneider said of the Superdome. Fights broke out. A fire erupted in a trash chute inside the dome, but a National Guard commander said it did not affect the evacuation. However, the airborne evacuation was disrupted after at least one shot was reported fired at a military helicopter. An air ambulance service official said helicopter transfers of the sick and injured were suspended as a result. ... The Superdome helicopter operation was suspended “until they gain control of the Superdome,” said Richard Zuschlag, head of Acadian Ambulance, which was handling the evacuation of sick and injured people. He said the National Guard told him that it was sending 100 military police officers to gain control. “That’s not enough,” Zuschlag. “We need a thousand.” ... Looting has also been a problem in Mississippi. “The truth is, a terrible tragedy like this brings out the best in most people, brings out the worst in some people,” said Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on NBC’s “Today” show Thursday. “We’re trying to deal with looters as ruthlessly as we can get our hands on them.” ' What can you do to help? Go to Instapundit to find out. (various)

Hundreds die in Baghdad pilgrim stampede. In another recent tragedy, hundreds of people were killed in a pilgrim stampede in Baghdad when 'huge crowds of pilgrims heading to the shrine of Imam Kadhom caused the fence of the A'imma bridge to collapse pushing people to fall into the Tigris river.' Neo-Neocon posts some thoughts on the dynamics of stampedes: 'On analysis, it turns out there are three main categories of venues that would appear to favor stampedes: the soccer stadium (or other large sporting event); the crowded nightclub in which a fire breaks out; and the religious pilgrimage. They all share the characteristics of having very large and moving groups of people packed into a restricted space. But panic, such as apparently occurred on the Iraqi bridge, is, surprisingly, not a required element to start such stampedes, although it inevitably happens as the stampede begins to take shape, and makes them that much worse. Stampedes can sometimes be sparked in the absence of any panic, when chance events block the flow of traffic in an overcrowded and spacially restricted situation. The situation, as far as I can determine, is a bit analogous to the elements that go into a tsunami, strangely enough. That is, a huge and extremely powerful force (in the case of crowds, the moving people; in the case of tsunamis, the moving water) is initially spread out horizontally. Then, some sort of blockage impedes that horizontal movement and converts it, at least partially, into a vertical one.' (ITM, Neo-Neocon)

"Pakistan has decided to engage Israel." Via Roger Simon, encouraging news about potential Israel-Pakistan relations: 'Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri said that ''Pakistan attaches great importance to Israel ending its occupation of Gaza. Pakistan has therefore decided to engage Israel.''" The announcement comes at a meeting of foreign ministers in Istanbul; Turkey is one of four Muslim countries (with Jordan, Egypt, and Mauritania) enjoying diplomatic relations with Israel. (IHT via Roger L. Simon)

"There is no button on a typewriter which will lose your document."

Typewriters. Even if they won't do a superscript "th" for you, there's lots to love about them. Thanks to Barney's Bendblog for passing this on. Go visit Blue Moon Camera and Machine and leave your digital angst behind.

Morning Report: August 28, 2005

Gunman shoots, wounds judge in Iran. A gunman shot and wounded Iranian judge Mohammad Reza Aghazadeh, according to a Reuters article posted at Regime Change Iran: ' A gunman has shot an Iranian judge in the eye and hand outside his Tehran home, seriously wounding him, the justice minister said on Sunday. The official IRNA news agency said Mohammad Reza Aghazadeh had been handling cases involving large land transactions near Karaj, an industrial satellite city to the west of Tehran. "He is now in surgery," Justice Minister Jamal Karimirad told reporters. "I hope God helps us keep him alive". Aghazadeh is the second judge to be shot this month. Hassan Moghaddas, a judge who sentenced several reformist dissidents to jail, was shot dead in his car on August 2.' (Reuters via RCI)

Drone crashes in Iran. Also via Regime Change Iran, a drone aircraft has crashed in Iran: 'An unmanned single-engined plane has crashed in a mountainous area of western Iran and the wreckage has been recovered by the Iranian armed forces. It was not clear if the plane was Iranian or foreign, although the influential Kayhan newspaper pointed out that "usually these sort of planes are used for spying on other countries". The reports quoted Ali Asgar Ahmadi, deputy head of security in the interior ministry, as saying the plane went down on Thursday in the Alashtar mountains near the city of Khorramabad, the capital of Lorestan province, 350 kilometres (220 miles) southwest of Tehran. The hardline Kayhan newspaper said that as soon as the plane crashed, police sealed off the area -- just 150 kilometres from the border with Iraq -- and "a group of experts from Kermanshahr airbase went to examine the fuselage". (AFP via RCI)

Iraq constitution update. CNN reports that the Iraqi Constitutional Committee has signed Iraq's draft constitution: 'The Iraqi constitutional committee signed off on a draft of a constitution Sunday after making some minor amendments, a committee spokesman said. The draft was signed by the committee and submitted to the Transitional National Assembly on Sunday. It was not put to a vote in the assembly in which the Shiite-Kurdish bloc has an overwhelming majority.' Iraq the model has a running commentary on Iraq's constitution: 'Montasir Al-Imara (Assembly member) confirmed that voting on the draft will take place in the coming few hours but also said "There are 153 clauses in the draft and naturally these clauses won't satisfy all Sunnis as Sunnis or all Kurds as Kurds but it's a project for a nation that looks at everyone's interests. The draft concentrated on equality among all Iraqis and there will be no 2nd degree citizens". ... Hussein Falluji (Sunni CDC member) told Al-Arabiya TV that the committee of the "marginalized" (in reference to the Sunni politicians) is holding a separate meeting right now for the purpose of preparing an announcemnet to clarify the "challenges and pressures" they were subjected to:

We did not have sectarian or partisan demands; all we care about is the unity of Iraq...we're arranging for a large campaign now to tell the people the truth about what happened. After all, it's all up to the people to decide since the people are the source of authority and sovereignty. All we asked for was to be given more time because we were expected to deal with all of Iraq's chronic problems in a matter of only two months!

We've got nothing to do now but to look forward to the next step; that is the referendum.
Humam Hammodi made a short introductory speech where he pointed out that this constittution is "not a holy text" and that amendmendts can follow in the future.

A representatives of each political, ethnic, religious faction will be reading a part of the draft in front of the National Assembly. ...' (ITM)

"A Moving Testament"

"I’m sure that all of you are by now familiar with Cindy Sheehan, the mother of Casey, her son who was killed in Iraq last year, and her vigil outside the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas. Her story has moved the hearts of millions just as it has angered the neocon spinmeisters who pushed for this war. Though she has hesitated and backpedaled more than once, she has brought out into public view the one flaming truth that the Jewish-controlled left and Jewish-controlled right are desperate to conceal: that her son, and all the other Americans being brought back home in body bags, died for Israel, not America.

Whatever mistakes Cindy Sheehan has made or will make, and whatever defects in her understanding, her story is a moving testament to the horrible injustice and irreparable harm done to our people by the Jewish supremacists."
- The National Vanguard; link at Little Green Footballs

Not Pioneers but Pawns

Michael Totten has some reflections on the Israeli settlers evacuated from Gaza, and he quotes Leon Wieseltier's TNR article at length. Michael compares and contrasts the twin irredentisms of Greater Palestine and Greater Israel. Money quote from Totten:

In a perfect world, both “greater” movement would be defeated simultaneously. But the world is far from perfect, as it always has been, and Palestinian society is more dysfunctional and corrupt than Israeli society. So the Greater Israel movement is being defeated before the Greater Palestine movement, if only because the intifada has been largely walled off from Israel proper.

Money quote from Wieseltier:

These settlers were not pioneers, they were pawns--the eager and fervid pawns of various Israeli governments acting on a grandiose geopolitical scheme whose futility has finally become apparent to a majority of the citizens of Israel. For a few decades the settlers seemed to be winning, and now, at least in Gaza, they have lost. That is all.

Unfortunately, Judaism is not devoid of the kind of "magical" thinking Wieseltier describes: If only enough Jews would keep the Sabbath, or live in the Land of Israel, or recite the right scriptural verses, then the Almighty would be compelled to bring in the Messianic Era - so the thinking goes. But there are also many devoutly religious Jews who reject these notions, and who do not believe that the mundane laws of cause and effect will be so lightly set aside. History seems to favor the Muggles.

Go read Michael's post at the link.

Basrawis Rock!

So says Queen Amidela, and Fayrouz concurs, in this post on clashes between Badr brigades and Sadr militia. A pox on both their houses, says Fay. On the darker side, QA reports on power outages in Basra. This is no joke, especially in the summer.

During the previous regime, we accused the government of deliberately wasting the electricity or not providing it to us. Why? Well, we knew that Saddam hated us. He called the three governorates -- Basrah, Nassriyah and Ammara -- "the black governorates" because of the 1991 incidents. Saddam is gone. What's happening now? The answer is it's worse, much more worse.

For the last 12 months, we've had electricity for 12 hours per day. For the last three weeks, we haven't had electricity at all. Is the government deliberately doing this? I say they are because there is a lot of aid coming from the coalition countries. God knows where this aid is going.

Read the full post to find out how Allawi lost the Basra vote.

Rebuilding the Spirit

Mino 19 at Friends of Democracy has some thoughts about rebuilding the Iraqi individual:

... Administrative and financial corruption is probably the most dangerous. It is obvious that corruption was the natural result of a devilish seed planted by the former regime. It was cleverly and deliberately watered later under the rule of civil administrator Paul Bremer, and it finally gave its fruits under Allawi's interim government. New thieves from abroad were imposed on the government, many of whom were experts not only in robbery but in creating an atmosphere of corruption to encourage others from inside and from abroad to plunder the country's riches.
Many of those expatriates became prominent leaders and officials as if Iraq were devoid of qualified honorable individuals from inside. This begs the question: when will the right person ever fill the right place in Iraq? One who will truly serve the people instead of those who seek power and positions for their own personal gain?
I have to say here that the reconstruction of the Iraqi psyche is far more important and urgent than the reconstruction of our infrastructure. What use is a prosperous country when it is governed by sick, greedy individuals looking for their own interests?
You can treat this as a call to return to our timeless, noble values and morals such as altruism, sacrifice for the sake of others, and other sacred values which have disappeared and are almost extinct in the new Iraq which is full of empty slogans such as transparency, accountability and democracy. ...

Read the full post at the link.