Storm brews around Bush leadership

President Bush surveys the damage from Air Force One. Picture / Reuters

President George W. Bush is facing not only the fallout of Hurricane Katrina but also an intense political storm as relief experts, government officials and newspaper editorials criticise everything from disaster preparedness policies to his public entry into the growing crisis on the Gulf Coast.

The New York Times said of a speech he made on Wednesday: "Nothing about the President's demeanour yesterday - which seemed casual to the point of carelessness - suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis."

Flanked by his Cabinet on the White House lawn, Bush had said: "This is going to be a difficult road. The challenges we face on the ground are unprecedented. But there's no doubt in my mind that we're going to succeed.

"Right now, the days seem awfully dark for those affected. But I'm confident that, with time, you'll get your life back in order. New communities will flourish. The great city of New Orleans will be back on its feet. And America will be a stronger place for it."

No less trenchant - and more heartfelt - in its criticism was the Biloxi Sun Herald in Mississippi, which surveyed the disaster around its offices and asked: "Why hasn't every able-bodied member of the armed forces in South Mississippi been pressed into service?"

Bush was on holiday at his Texas ranch when the Asian tsunami struck last year and was soon in the firing line for reacting slowly. This week he faced the same criticism - he spent Monday on a fund-raising tour of the American west, and was accused of failing to provide adequate leadership.

As survivors complained of a lack of water, food and medical supplies, fingers from across the political spectrum were pointed at the White House. Experts on the Mississippi Delta quickly pointed out that a plan to shore up the levees around New Orleans was abandoned last year for lack of Government funding.

They said flood-control spending for southeastern Louisiana had been chopped every year that Bush had been in office, hurricane protection funds had also fallen, and the budget for the local Army corps of engineers had been cut.

"It appears that the money has been moved in the President's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay," the emergency management chief for Jefferson parish told the Times-Picayune newspaper.

The torrent of criticism contrasted sharply to the reaction to the September 11 attacks, when political sniping was put on hold and dissenters were told their complaints were both unwelcome and unpatriotic.