Letters: Oct. 17, 2005

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(4 of 5)

The people of New Orleans were trapped by more than water [Sept. 26]. Long before Hurricane Katrina struck, many of the residents were enmeshed in a web of poverty. The majority of the nation seemed to have the false sense that everything was just fine in America, including New Orleans. Now we know that it was not. The best way to honor the dead and help people put their lives back together is to use the devastation caused by Katrina to make people see the marginalization of the poor--the real national American disgrace.

SILAS WEST

Kathmandu

Your reporting on Katrina has shown the world the ugly and the dark side of the U.S., the side where the color of the skin or the size of a bank account takes top priority. We all watched the agony and suffering of Americans, and we felt for them. Perhaps this is an opportunity for the U.S. to review its priorities and become more compassionate and morally obligated toward its own people. Next time, instead of preaching to other countries about human-rights issues, the U.S. should try to look more closely at what is happening at home. Shame on you, America.

MANIJEH RAHIMIAN

London

Enough is enough! I saw the scenes of utter devastation in the newspaper and on television, and my blood is boiling! Shame on Bush. Why did it take so long for him to aid the victims? How many people died waiting for help? The buck supposedly stops with the President, but he was not in Washington and left the task to others, who failed miserably. Maybe his response would have been faster in different circumstances, but it seems Bush lacked the motivation in this case, in which the majority of people concerned were poor and black and the prestige attached to such a rescue mission would not be seen as particularly great.

SUSAN COOPER

Perth, Australia

Hurricane Katrina was a catastrophe that was made worse by the U.S. government's refusal to ensure domestic tranquillity. To do that requires Big Government to maintain coherent transportation and communications systems and coordinate land management that allows the ecosystem to serve as a buffer against natural calamity. Big Government must organize access to medical care for all individuals. But Big Government has been under constant attack for decades. Most people see it as the cause of Americans' woes rather than as part of the solution. Big Government is not the enemy; Bad Government is--inept, shortsighted and self-serving.

FRANCIS MICKUS

Paris

Comparative Failure

Matthew Cooper, in his article about President Bush's mishandling of the Katrina disaster [Sept. 12] noted, "In a crisis he can act paradoxically, appearing--almost simultaneously--strong and weak, decisive and vacillating, Churchill and Chamberlain." Please stop comparing Bush to British Prime Ministers. If Bush lived in Britain, he could not get elected to a town council. That's a fact.

JAVAD MAHDAVI

London

A Flood of Money