Adversaries take comfort from Katrina response:

[tndefender]

Read the take of Iran's Revolutionary Guard on our government's handling of the Katrina disaster:

http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/a ... oryid=3667

Very troubling indeed.

[Windy]

Well, troubling in that these types of conclusions are being (correctly) reached by governments around the world, but still kinda funny because of the silly rhetoric being employed by the Iranian writer. The Iranians know that if they hit 50 of our states hard, or even 5 of them (assuming they were capable of such a thing), we would turn the majority of their country into a glass parking lot. People write op-eds like that to stir up nationalism. Nobody in Iran is silly enough to actually want a war with America, though they also know that nobody in America is silly enough right now to want to fight a war in Iran.

[stormie_skies]

This is why the whole "blame game" matters.

I agree with you 100%, Windy, that Iran isn't going to be attacking us anytime soon, and that this is just a bunch of sillyness meant to garner support for the Iranian government (I think almost every middle eastern government uses anti-Americanism to keep their people complacent).

But regardless, we need to be prepared for anything - and we need to have an emergency response system that works. It broke down this time, and its important to fix it....before we have to use it again....

[GalvestonDuck]

Isn't there less need to lay blame on someone when they accept responsibilty?

[mf_dolphin]

Attempts to compare the hurricane response to an attack response are just people blowing wind. Either people are ill informed or are driving a political agenda. The bottom line is that the mechanism for response are totally different because of our laws even though a lot of the same organizations are involved.

While the original post is fine any move to take this any further into the political arena will result in this thread being locked.

[stormie_skies]

Isn't there less need to lay blame on someone when they accept responsibilty?

I don't know. I don't think so.

Lets say I was a bus driver. One day, I fall asleep at the wheel - the bus flips over, people die. Do you think my employer would let me keep my job if I told him I was responsible for the accident and I was really, really sorry? I doubt it....

I think when you work in something as important as emergency management - when the lives of thousands of people depend on your ability to do your job - the room for acceptable error is minimal. Responsibility is great and all, but it has to be followed by action - otherwise its worthless. Thats why I think it was right that "Brownie" is no longer in his position. Thats why I am sure the Governor is going to have a heck of a time getting re-elected, if she runs at all. People make mistakes, but there are some mistakes that are just so great that you cannot be trusted to do your job anymore....

Does that make sense?

[GalvestonDuck]

Yeah, but I wasn't talking about anyone keeping or not keeping their job. I was just pointing out that at least one person has taken responsibility and accepted accountability for things. So, there's no need to continued trying to place blame on him when he's already said, "OK, I take responsibility."

I guess I'm just trying to say that it shows integrity on his part. Kind of like how it is here at UTMB -- part of our "Principles of Service" involves taking accountability for actions instead of denying fault. I've even seen it in the higher ranks when someone lower on the totem pole was actually at fault. Supervisors (as team leaders) accept accountability for the faults of their team. Then, it's a matter of finding out where things went wrong, fixing them, changing them, and not letting them go wrong again.

My turn -- Does that make sense? In other words, I don't think I really debating with you. Just trying to point out how I see it.

[stormie_skies]

Oh, I understand completely. And I think for the most part we agree here. I was surprised and pleased that leaders on all levels have stood up and accepted responsibility for the failures that happened on their watch. It was a respectable thing to do, and I think its a great first step.

I just hope that we as a nation make sure there is a strong follow-through on that second part - the part where we find the problems and fix them. Politicians (and I'm talking all politicans here, regardless of party or position) have a way of saying what we want to hear and then, when we feel a little better, sweeping the problems back under the rug. We can't let that happen here - this is way too important.

I guess, to me, the "blame game" is about more than just assigning blame....(that sounds so nasty, doesn't it?).....its just another part of taking responsibility......you have to know who made mistakes and what the mistakes were before you can fix anything.

[themusk]

Isn't there less need to lay blame on someone when they accept responsibilty?

It's not -- I hope-- about finding "who" is "responsible", it's about finding what needs to be fixed.

Focusing on "who" and being satisfied with fixing "responsibility" is misguided: I'm pretty sure more than one or two people in America are capable of making mistakes, and I'm pretty sure that just one person, however capable, can't get things right when obstructed by laws/availability of resources/other people/bad planning/whatever. Changing people, or fixing responsibility upon them, won't fix the problem. And I am not yet satisfied that the right questions are being asked and answered.

[GalvestonDuck]

Isn't there less need to lay blame on someone when they accept responsibilty?

It's not -- I hope-- about finding "who" is "responsible", it's about finding what needs to be fixed.

Focusing on "who" and being satisfied with fixing "responsibility" is misguided: I'm pretty sure more than one or two people in America are capable of making mistakes, and I'm pretty sure that just one person, however capable, can't get things right when obstructed by laws/availability of resources/other people/bad planning/whatever. Changing people, or fixing responsibility upon them, won't fix the problem. And I am not yet satisfied that the right questions are being asked and answered.

Thus, my later post.

[secretforecaster]

Isn't there less need to lay blame on someone when they accept responsibilty?

It's not -- I hope-- about finding "who" is "responsible", it's about finding what needs to be fixed.

Focusing on "who" and being satisfied with fixing "responsibility" is misguided: I'm pretty sure more than one or two people in America are capable of making mistakes, and I'm pretty sure that just one person, however capable, can't get things right when obstructed by laws/availability of resources/other people/bad planning/whatever. Changing people, or fixing responsibility upon them, won't fix the problem. And I am not yet satisfied that the right questions are being asked and answered.

I agree!

If only everyone could see it that way....even for a minute.