Bush's New Orleans tour a 'photo-op'A Senator from the southern US state of Louisiana has branded President George W Bush's visit to a busted levee in New Orleans a mere photo-op, and slammed his government's response to the Hurricane Katrina tragedy.
Mary Landrieu rebuked Mr Bush for failing to heed her call to name a cabinet-level official to lead the federal response to the hurricane, the one of the worst natural disasters in American history.
"Perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th Street Levee," said Senator Landrieu, a Democrat.
"Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe.
"Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential photo opportunity.
"The desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment.
"The good and decent people of south-east Louisiana and the Gulf Coast - black and white, rich and poor, young and old - deserve far better from their national government."
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10 years ago