In Iowa, Clark declares Bush mishandled storm
Thursday, September 2, 2005
By JOLENE STEVENS
DES MOINES REGISTER CORRESPONDENT
Sioux City, Iowa — Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, traveling in Iowa on Thursday, was sharply critical of the Bush administration's preparation for and response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
"I think it's awful that we left 100,000 people stranded in New Orleans," Clark told reporters at a Sioux City news conference.
He said federal officials had plenty of warning and should have been more prepared.
"First of all, we all saw the storm coming. This did not come in the middle of the night like a terrorist attack. It was very clearly presented for hours before it struck," he said.
"We should have mobilized a joint task force, pre-positioned the National Guard, and lined up the evacuation assets," Clark continued.
"We can do much better than this in our country," he said.
President Bush, who will tour the Gulf Coast disaster region today, acknowledged the frustration of people who need food, water and shelter.
"I fully understand people wanting things to have happened yesterday," he said in an interview Thursday with ABC's "Good Morning America" program. "I understand the anxiety of people on the ground. . . . So there is frustration. But I want people to know there's a lot of help coming."
Bush has proposed an initial $10 billion in federal money for disaster relief.
Clark, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, has been traveling in Iowa with Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson, the state party chairwoman, to help stir up support in advance of the 2006 elections.
The Arkansas native has said he's not focused on his political future but hasn't ruled out running for president in 2008. He spoke Thursday morning at a closed-door fundraising breakfast attended by about 50 local Democrats.
Addressing the high gasoline prices in the wake of damage to the oil industry on the Gulf Coast, he said that "assuming we can get the materials out and ease supply restraints," he would support a move to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at this point to ease gas and oil prices.
"The reserve is for use in times of supply disruption," he said. "We're seeing the impact of this happening now, and spreading from the Gulf Coast into neighboring states in supplies of both car and aviation fuel."
For the longer term, he advocated an alternative energy policy, including using ethanol, to ease the country's reliance on fossil fuels.
