WSJ: "Let Bechtel handle it."

The WSJ's Daniel Henninger has the answer (no link; subscription only):

We should consider outsourcing some of these functions, for profit, to the private sector. In recent days, offers of help have come from such companies as Anheuser-Busch and Culligan (water), Lilly, Merck and Wyeth (pharmaceuticals), Nissan and GM (cars and trucks), Sprint, Nextel and Qwest (communications gear and phone cards)....

and here's the beauty part (and for the tin foil equipped among us, the 'ah ha' moment):

Give contract authority to organize these resources to a project-management firm like Bechtel.

Nah, these guys couldn't be so craven as to have dragged their feet, worsened the disaster, to prove we need to turn over lucrative disaster recovery operations to their friends?

•  Wow

  Did they say that?  Is there going to be a lucrative contract handed out now to well-connected companies to maintain standing disaster relief infrastructures?  If that happens, I swear, someone should HANG.  Outsorcing in the military has been a disaster.  In disaster relief, it would get thousands killed and just enrich the already enriched.  Fuckers.  

  by calipygian on Fri Sep 02, 2005 at 01:31:40 PM PDT

  •  I posted a list of the

    top 25 largest contractors in a comment a couple of days ago.  Bechtal is at the time and are long-time GOP cronys -- although they were a bit more inside with the Reagan team than they are with  Bu$hCo.

    Yes, they'll all be feeding at the trough.  

    by Marie on Fri Sep 02, 2005 at 01:48:00 PM PDT

•  yeah....

  so we can pay $8.00 a bottle for water.

  by tjb22 on Fri Sep 02, 2005 at 01:33:19 PM PDT

•  Let them do it at cost.

  With us doing the audit.

  by irate on Fri Sep 02, 2005 at 01:34:57 PM PDT

•  First Folks Out of Here...

  ...were Fluor project managers on their way to New Orleans.

  Remember the neocons made a big deal after the initiation of the Iraq invasion that the countries that didn't support the invasion could not share in the rebuilding effort.  Translated that means,"There's money to be made here and you don't get any!"

  I made a joking reference to Halliburton in another dopey comment in another thread, but you can bet, they'll be among the first at the trough.  After all, didn't we hear after the invasion of Iraq (is there an echo in here?) "Oil equipment restoration is their specialty!"

  More money for the same old players.  BushCo.

  by InquisitiveRaven on Fri Sep 02, 2005 at 01:42:48 PM PDT

  •  Voila...

    by Cliff Talus on Fri Sep 02, 2005 at 01:46:08 PM PDT

•  Already Privatized

  It hasn't really been working out so well so far.

  http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2005/09/ill_stop_callin.html

  Remember my earlier point that disaster management in New Orleans had been privatised, the 'catastrophic hurricane disaster plan' having been handed over to Baton Rouge-based Innovative Emergency Management last year? Watching this nightmare unfold, I've been wondering... what exactly IEM got paid for. It's turning out to be very hard to find out.... In my first post on this, I quoted their original press release: "IEM, Inc., the Baton Rouge-based emergency management and homeland security consultant, will lead the development of a catastrophic hurricane disaster plan for Southeast Louisiana and the City of New Orleans under a more than half a million dollar contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)." Don't bother trying the link to that release on the original post. It doesn't work any more....

  [Y]ou'll see IEM's page of press releases. Below is what it looked like at 3am on Friday 2nd September... a release on May 25, 2004 and the next one's on July 14, 2004. But... just before Katrina started, y'know, destroying New Orleans... [t]here used to be another press release, between May and July, dated June 3, announcing that 'IEM Team to Develop Catastrophic Hurricane Disaster Plan for New Orleans & Southeast Louisiana'. That's right. The evidence that hurricane-management was privatised and handed over to IEM has been eradicated from the IEM website. It's almost as if someone was trying to evade responsibility for incompetence that's resulted in the deaths of thousands, or something.

  For those interested... [y]ou can still find the verbatim copy from the press release in the Insurance Journal... where we learn from IEM Director of Homeland Security Wayne Thomas that his company's 'approach to catastrophic planning meets the challenges associated with integrating multi-jurisdictional needs and capabilities into an effective plan for addressing catastrophic hurricane strikes'. Right. So, the IEM team's approach isn't to siphon off tax money, spout management shit, provide a demonstrably catastrophically inadequate plan, then f--- off like craven f------ caveworms and hide the evidence when the fucking corpses start piling up?

  More intriguing information here (pdf), in the Spring newsletter of the Louisiana Emergency Preparedness Association, where we hear all about an exciting hurricane planning workshop organised by IEM. Relevant extract: '[S]ustaining winds of 120mph... destroyed over 75% of the structures in its path, and left the majority of New Orleans under 15-20 feet of water'. That's impressively accurate. '[S]heltering, temporary housing, and temporary medical care' were chosen as areas to focus on, 'functional plans' were put in place, that can be 'implemented immediately'. Result? 'Louisiana is much better prepared for a catastrophic hurricane'....

  [B]e proud, IEM! Why so coy? Why so shy of having won this prestigious contract? I think we should help IEM out by telling everyone we can their involvement in this, and bringing to people's attention the company's sudden inadvertent mislaying of its press release...

  by ortcutt on Fri Sep 02, 2005 at 02:15:27 PM PDT

  •  Holy chit.... n/t

    by Cliff Talus on Fri Sep 02, 2005 at 02:41:28 PM PDT

•  Everything they've ever

  privatized has become a disaster! So a private disaster management firm was hired to engineer a plan that would avoid this catastrophe?

  Like everything else that's been privatized, they took the money and ran!

  by Gegner on Fri Sep 02, 2005 at 02:51:46 PM PDT