The Right Response to Katrina
By Sam Stein | October 3, 2005The effects of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita will be felt long after New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast are restored to their former conditions. The suffering of victims will surely linger, reconstruction costs will be felt for years and, as is the aftermath of all disasters whether man-made or natural, the government will enact long-term legislation -- and pour in billions of dollar -- aimed at deterring similar catastrophes in the future. In our efforts to improve what has been, by all admissions, an "inexcusable" disaster response capacity, we Americans would be wise to reexamine our foreign policy agenda as well.