Imagine How The Iraqis Feel

New Orleans residents are afraid of what will happen now that the last National Guard troops are pulling out of their city. Abe Greenwald at Commentary makes two points: one, while it's common to say there was blame all around during Katrina, in fact Bush got it right. (As was well-documented here and elsewhere at the time). It was the Governor & the mayor who did a heckuva job.

But more to the point:

Critics have cited Hurricane Katrina as a domestic debacle for George W. Bush with a PR effect comparable to that of the Iraq War. What a funny day for reflection it is that finds President Barack Obama extending his withdrawal timetable in Iraq and complying with the Bush plan to keep a significant number of troops there through 2011, while the residents of New Orleans express heartsickness over being abandoned to local authorities by the federal government. Here’s the kicker:

“I don’t think the city is ready for us to leave,” said Lt. Ronald Brown, who has been part of Task Force Gator since April 2007. “I’d like to see us stay. I think we make a difference, but I guess it’s a money thing.”

Funny, I could swear I remember hearing Barack Obama talk about spending too much on a misguided war and too little at home. But, then, I must be hearing things. Because I also thought I heard something about billions of tax payer dollars being allocated for domestic infrastructure.