Bush takes responsibility for blunders (AP) Updated: 2005-09-14 06:20
WASHINGTON - President Bush for the first time took responsibility Tuesday
for federal government mistakes in dealing with Hurricane Katrina and suggested
the calamity raised broader questions about the government's ability to handle
both natural disasters and terror attacks. AP reported.
President Bush
reacts during a joint press availiblity with Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2005, in the East Room at the White House in
Washington. [AP] | "Katrina exposed serious
problems in our response capability at all levels of government," Bush said at a
joint White House news conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
"And to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right,
I take responsibility. I want to know what went right and what went wrong," said
Bush.
Facing sharp criticism and the lowest approval ratings of his presidency,
Bush scheduled a speech to the nation from Louisiana for Thursday evening. It
will be his fourth trip to the devastated Gulf Coast since the storm struck two
weeks ago.
It was the closest Bush has come to publicly faulting any federal officials
involved in the hurricane response, which has been widely criticized as
disjointed and slow. Some federal officials have sought to blame state and local
officials for being unprepared to cope with the disaster.
Sen. Mary Landrieu (news, bio, voting record), D-La., welcomed Bush's
conciliatory remarks. "Accountability at every level is critical, and leadership
begins at the top," she said.
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