[StBernard] commentary: U.S. Army Corps should not be exempt from responsibility

[Westley Annis]

by H.J. Bosworth Jr. 
12/11/2006 	
 	
Almost 4,000 years ago, an enlightened leader named Hammurabi, ruler of
Babylon, enacted a set of rules now known as the "Code of Hammurabi." 
The famous "eye for an eye" concept originated in his code. Most of these
rules were common sense and still apply today. 
  
Those who are considerate, truthful and responsible for their actions, fair
in business dealings, honorable to their elders, do not steal or covet the
possessions of others, do not kill and do not commit adulterous acts largely
comply with the code. 
  
The one glaring problem in applying these common-sense rules is based on the
Immunity of the Sovereign. The kings of old wanted to be sure not to be held
accountable to the masses or classical lawyers. In modern times, governments
have laws in place to protect lawmakers and their fellow government
employees from lawyers (and traditional accountability). 
  
After the great Mississippi River flood of 1927 and at nearly the same time
as the great stock market crash, Congress extended this immunity to the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers. The levees that broke in the 1927 flood were built
by a multitude of interests and the Corps was primarily blamed for the
failure. The immunity allowed by Congress was considered reasonable at the
time due to the variety of the failures and since the Great Depression was
descending upon the nation. 
  
Even today, this immunity protects the Corps from its own sloppiness and
design errors, which caused the destruction of more than half of an American
city. 
  
Nearly 16 months after Hurricane Katrina, it appears most Americans are
under the false impression New Orleans should be doing fine since the Corps
has admitted its negligence and President Bush has promised to help us
rebuild. It also appears the rest of America believes since billions of
dollars have been allocated to help us, we should be OK. 
  
The sad truth is the individuals who lost their homes and businesses because
of the levee failures have not yet been compensated for their losses.
Individuals who rebuilt their homes did so with their savings and insurance
proceeds. 
  
There is something very wrong with the Corps' immunity and Congress' refusal
to see its culpability for the mess we have to fix. If an engineer in
private practice designs a building that later collapses, the engineer is
held personally responsible and any victims and those who lost property or
possessions would be compensated. 
  
The Corps built and maintained the levees and floodwalls, yet the victims
and the city are not being made whole by Congress or the Corps. 
Unless Congress accepts responsibility for the dozens of failures of the
Corps-built levees, New Orleans will never be close to what it was a year
and a half ago. Congress should provide a Limited Waiver of Sovereign
Immunity and admit the will of the people should have the authority over a
government, which should not be considered elite and superior to the people.

  
More than 100 dams in this country, designed or built by the Corps, the
Tennessee Valley Authority, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation or another
federal agency, could fail and destroy other American cities. 
  
To my knowledge, no one at the Corps lost their job over the Katrina levee
breaches even though more than 1,000 people died and more than 100,000 homes
and businesses were destroyed as a direct result of the flood protection
failures. 
  
Justice is a radically simple concept in today's buck-passing society. No
one person or institution should be above the law. 
  
All freedom-loving Americans should expect nothing less from their
government and institutions established to protect life and property. We
need to hold Congress and this institution accountable for these and similar
past mistakes and compel them to get it right for the next storm.. 
  
H.J. Bosworth Jr. of New Orleans is a licensed civil engineer, educated at
Jesuit High School and Louisiana State University, working here in the
engineering business in New Orleans since 1982.