Sometimes we are our own worst enemy

3 May 2007 // A VERY BAD STORY just gets worse and worse. The U.S. government, according to a story in this past Sunday's Washington Post, failed to take advantage of millions of dollars of aid from its allies in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Moreover, the U.S. has collected about $126 million and used just $40 million of the $454 million in cash that was offered, the Post reported, citing U.S. officials and contractors. Another $400 million worth of oil was offered from Kuwait.

Some of the offers were rescinded or redirected to organizations such as the Red Cross while other offers got mired in the government bureaucracy.

This latest news is just another blemish on a federal government response loaded with crater-like lacerations.

The documents - more than 10,000 pages of cables, telegraphs and e-mails from U.S. embassies - were provided to the Post by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a public interest group. They paint a bleak picture.

This outpouring in aid was a chorus of good-will gestures from friends of the United States.

These were our allies, from countries the United States has helped when they were in need. We do that a lot.

In fact, we declined 54 of 77 recorded aid offers from Canada, Britain and Israel, the Post reported.

As to why this money was not administered properly, the answer, as it has been all along in the sorry story of Katrina, seems to be a lack of competence.

Competence in administering this disaster, before, during and after. Story after story continues to unfold showing unpreparedness, waste, fraud, abuse - that is the legacy of Katrina.

The United States could have used the aid, and still can use it. The people of the Gulf Coast and Louisiana still have tremendous unmet needs.

In the meantime, the Senate homeland security committee plans to hold hearings this summer on this matter.

One wonders: Will we ever learn?