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# What we’ve missed
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/what-weve-missed/
- Published: 2007-01-02T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T22:57:07.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*THE SOAP BOX BY BENNET KELLEY*

*By Bennet Kelley*

One of the powers of the presidency is to define the agenda both in Washington and, to a large extent, in the media with the result being that issues ignored by the White House often are ignored by the media as well. This year was no different, as the Iraq War dominated the news while important issues ignored by the Bush administration failed to get the attention they deserved.

There is no better example of this phenomenon than the crisis in Darfur. It is a tragic irony that President Bush responded to a memo on the world’s inaction during the Rwanda genocide by writing “not on my watch,” yet on his watch over 400,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced since 2003 by the Sudanese campaign of ethnic cleansing in Darfur. Despite acknowledging that genocide was occurring as early as 2004, the Bush administration has followed a policy of speaking loudly “and carrying a toothpick,” out of fear of jeopardizing counter-terrorism intelligence provided by the Sudanese government.

As a result, growing demands for U.S. leadership on this issue, through additional targeted sanctions or enforcement of a United Nations mandated no-fly zone, have largely been ignored by both the White House and the media. It is only because of the dedicated efforts of activists and celebrities such as George Clooney and Don Cheadle that the issue receives any attention at all.

According to BBC anchor Gavin Esler, one of the year’s most important and untold stories is that “George W. Bush has lost Latin America.” President Bush alienated the region by supporting the attempted coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, cutting military aid to a dozen Latin nations that refused to immunize U.S. officials from prosecution by the International Criminal Court and essentially ignoring the region after most Latin nations refused to support the Iraq War. This year, Latin America fired back, with President Chavez denouncing Bush as “el Diablo” at the United Nations and voters in Nicaragua and Venezuela electing former Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega and reelecting Chavez, respectively despite Bush’s public opposition.

Esler believes that there is a wave of “profound anti-American” sentiment throughout the region that is only going to get worse. This dangerously occurs at a time when U.S. rivals China and, possibly even, al-Qaeda are seeking to expand their influence in the region.

At home, despite President Bush’s promise to do “what it takes,” little attention was paid to the fact that Katrina recovery efforts have failed to live up to this promise. A disaster expert called the Bush Administration’s Katrina housing effort “the largest disaster-response failure in the history of the country:”while country music stars and Louisiana natives Tim McGraw and Faith Hill recently called the recovery efforts “humiliating.”

By the first anniversary of the storm, 99 percent of the funds allocated for repair of critical infrastructure had not been spent; over 80 percent of public housing units remain closed; 60 percent of the city homes lacked electricity; and nearly one-third of the trash had yet to be picked up — leading some to suggest that FEMA’s slow response was part of a deliberate effort to discourage low-income families from returning to the city.

Sadly, New Orleans continues to be victimized by Bush cronyism as more than 70 percent of the contracts were awarded in no-bid or limited-bid contracts to large corporations such as Bechtel and Halliburton.

Katrina’s flood waters also washed away the thin veneer that obscured the persistent poverty that exits in America. In 2005, President Bush declared in New Orleans’ Jackson Square that “\[w\]e have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action.”One year later, few noticed when this empty promise washed ashore with the release of census data revealing that over one in 10 families and almost one in five children live in poverty today while Bush has remained silent. Historian Douglas Brinkley aptly notes that Bush is cognizant of criticism of President Johnson for attempting to fund both the War on Poverty and the Vietnam War and concludes that “Bush has learned this lesson: He chose Iraq over New Orleans.”

Throughout this year, Bush calamitously chose action in Iraq and inaction in areas such as Darfur and New Orleans desperately calling for his leadership. In essence, this year is best captured by the Japanese proverb: “Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare”... except that in today’s world, even inaction can result in a nightmare.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 2, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/010207.pdf?ref=smdp.com)