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More and more conservatives each day are speaking truth to power.

This time, it's Doug Bandow of the Cato Institute:

The real question is, why did Washington take so long to mobilize [the National Guard]? The administration underestimated the problem, failed to plan for the predictable aftermath, and refused to accept responsibility for its actions - just like when the president took America into war based on false and distorted intelligence. Then the administration failed to prepare for violent resistance in Iraq. The Pentagon did not provide America's soldiers with adequate quantities of body armor, armored vehicles and other equipment. New terrorist affiliates sprang up, new terrorist recruits flooded Iraq, and new terrorist attacks were launched around the world, all contrary to administration expectations. In none of these cases has anyone taken responsibility for anything.

Now Hurricane Katrina has surprised a woefully ill-prepared administration. Bush and his officials failed in their most basic responsibility, to maintain the peaceful social framework within which Americans normally live and work together.

George W. Bush initially responded to Sept. 11 with personal empathy, political sensitivity and policy nuance. But his failures now overwhelm his successes. The administration's continuing lack of accountability leaves it ill-equipped to meet equally serious future challenges.

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