Reply #350: 9/10 (orig 9/2) National Guard Delay (no approval by WH til Thurs!) Likely

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National Guard Delay (no approval by WH til Thurs!) Likely to Be Examined
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1749337
See also http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2057771
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/katrina_national_guard

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.

California troops just began arriving in Louisiana on Friday, three days after flood waters devastated New Orleans and chaos broke out.

In fact, when New Orleans' levees gave way to deadly flooding on Tuesday, Louisiana's National Guard had received help from troops in only three other states: Ohio, which had nine people in Louisiana then; Oklahoma, 89; and Texas, 625, figures provided by the National Guard show.

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With many states' Guard units depleted by deployments to Iraq, Katrina's aftermath was almost certain from the beginning to require help from faraway states.