I remember that - neighboring counties offered to have ships of supplies delivered right thru to gulf, to those hit hardest in the french quarter.
he refused, then did nothing.
Sorry, but if a hurricane wipes out my house and I'm starving, drowning, or facing some water-based disease, I'd accept help from just about anyone.
"God damn America!" --Jeremiah Wright
Bush rejects Chávez aidThis article appeared in the Guardian on Wednesday September 07 2005 . It was last updated at 00:03 on September 07 2005.
An offer of aid from the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, which included two mobile hospital units, 120 rescue and first aid experts and 50 tonnes of food, has been rejected, according to the civil rights leader, Jesse Jackson.
Mr Jackson said the offer from the Venezuelan leader, whom he recently met, included 10 water purification plants, 18 power generation plants and 20 tonnes of bottled water.
The offer was made in a letter from the Venezuelan ambassador to the United States, Bernardo Alvarez, to the governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/sep/07/venezuela.hurricanekatrina/printBush Rejects French Offer of Medical Aid, Water FiltersGermany and France, the two leading European opponents of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, have offered aid to the U.S. to help the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, which probably killed thousands of people in four Gulf coast states.
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Germany is ready to provide help including airlift capacities, vaccination, water purification, medical supplies and pumping services. The aid is available in the short term and can be brought to the U.S. on German air force and chartered planes, Schroeder said. The U.S. government has agreed to receive the help in principle, he said…
http://www.infowars.com/articles/new_orleans/french_offer_med_supplies_equipment.htmU.S. Rejects Israel's Offer of Aid Workers
The United States turned down offers of expert assistance from Israel and other nations in the crucial first days after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.
Instead, the United States solicited material assistance from Israel that was probably superfluous by the time the shipment arrived on the evening of Sept. 8.
The reasons behind the decisions are unclear. Experts have offered a number of explanations, including the bureaucratic difficulties involved in absorbing thousands of foreign first-responder personnel, the belief that the existing first-responder infrastructure in Louisiana and Mississippi was well equipped to handle the crisis and the potential political fallout from asking foreign nations to help the world's greatest power save lives on its own turf.
Such a request would have been "a tremendous admission of failure,"ť said one official of a nongovernmental organization involved in current rescue efforts, who asked not to be identified because of his relationship with U.S. government officials...
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=14641U.S. Rejects Cuban Aid, 20 Million Barrels of Iranian OilWASHINGTON - In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, governments around the world, including some of America's adversaries, have opened their checkbooks to help storm victims.
In recent days, Cuban leader Fidel Castro has proposed sending doctors and medical personnel; the Islamic Republic of Iran has offered 20 million barrels of crude oil, and Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, has offered the governor of Louisiana 50 tons of food, 20 tons of bottled water, and the help of 120 first aid workers. The Iranian oil would come with strings attached - the regime asked America to lift trade sanctions in return.
The State Department has said it will not accept the aid from Cuba and Iran, neither of which have formal diplomatic ties with America...
http://www2.nysun.com/national/us-rejects-cuban-aid-20-million-barrels/U.S. REJECTS GERMAN PLANE CARRYING AID
A German military plane carrying 15 tons of military rations for Katrina survivors was sent back by U.S. authorities, officials said Saturday. The plane was turned away Thursday because it did not have the required authorization, a German government spokesman said. The spokesman, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, declined to comment on a report in the German news magazine Der Spiegel that U.S. authorities refused the delivery on the grounds that the NATO military rations...
Most Katrina Aid From Overseas Went UnclaimedBy John Solomon and Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, April 29, 2007; A01
As the winds and water of Hurricane Katrina were receding, presidential confidante Karen Hughes sent a cable from her State Department office to U.S. ambassadors worldwide.
Titled "Echo-Chamber Message" -- a public relations term for talking points designed to be repeated again and again -- the Sept. 7, 2005, directive was unmistakable: Assure the scores of countries that had pledged or donated aid at the height of the disaster that their largesse had provided Americans "practical help and moral support" and "highlight the concrete benefits hurricane victims are receiving."
Many of the U.S. diplomats who received the message, however, were beginning to witness a more embarrassing reality. They knew the U.S. government was turning down many allies' offers of manpower, supplies and expertise worth untold millions of dollars. Eventually the United States also would fail to collect most of the unprecedented outpouring of international cash assistance for Katrina's victims.
Allies offered $854 million in cash and in oil that was to be sold for cash. But only $40 million has been used so far for disaster victims or reconstruction, according to U.S. officials and contractors. Most of the aid went uncollected, including $400 million worth of oil. Some offers were withdrawn or redirected to private groups such as the Red Cross. The rest has been delayed by red tape and bureaucratic limits on how it can be spent...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/28/AR2007042801113_pf.html
