National Guard response to natural disasters is a state responsibility. The buck stops in the Louisiana governor's office. And some other governors might have been a bit more proactive.
From a Yahoo! AP article, National Guard Delay Likely to Be Examined :
National Guard Delay Likely to Be Examined By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer [/] Sat Sep 3, 2:45 AM ET
WASHINGTON - Several states ready and willing to send National Guard troops to the rescue in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans didn't get the go-ahead until days after the storm struck — a delay nearly certain to be investigated by Congress.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state's National Guard on Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route didn't come from Washington until late Thursday.
Why did Gov. Richardson wait four days for paperwork? He is the responsible commander of New Mexico's National Guard?
California troops just began arriving in Louisiana on Friday, three days after flood waters devastated New Orleans and chaos broke out.[…] Bush had the legal authority to order the National Guard to the disaster area himself, as he did after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks . But the troops four years ago were deployed for national security protection, and presidents of both parties traditionally defer to governors to deploy their own National Guardsmen and request help from other states when it comes to natural disasters. […]
This was and is a state responsibility. The buck stops in the Louisiana governor's office.
Among those headed in were several hundred from Wisconsin, where the governor took the unusual step of declaring a disaster outside his state to activate his Guard."This was the first time a governor ever declared a natural disaster in another state and activated to that other state," said Gov. Jim Doyle, who issued his order Wednesday. "We were ready to be deployed within 24 hours of that order." […] [my emphasis and ellipses]
Looks like one governor was on the ball.
