The Dress Rehearsal For The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse

The book of Revelation is perhaps the most mysterious book in the Bible. And to many offers far-fetched images of doom, gloom and destruction. Yet the events in New Orleans clearly prove how quickly a great American city can be reduced to similar ruin, famine, pestilence, death and even war as gangs of armed thugs are roaming the wreckage. In a single day of storm damage, a great city has become entirely desolate, with most in the city homeless or displaced. It is much like a dress rehearsal for the Four Horsemen of the Apocalyse, or even like a Mad Max film of a post nuclear world of survival by any means necessary for some.

There are several lessons to be learned from the New Orleans disaster. One is that major projects such as levee systems should be strengthened wherever conditions exist that a natural disaster could create a similar flooding disaster. Another lesson to be learned is that a nuclear war or even a number of terrorist nuclear attacks in the U.S. could reduce American cities to similar destruction as New Orleans faced this week. This is a frightenening scenario. More Mad Maxlike scenes of armed thugs looting the wreckage of ruined cities with many refugees needing food, water and shelter could be multiiplied.

All efforts to prevent a similar levee disasters as well as a constant vigilance for world peace as well as efforts to constructively undermine terrorism must be undertaken. There were many past efforts to strengthen the levees that Congress failed to fund in the past. But fingerpointing does no good unless lessons are learned to try to prevent such future events and better disaster management planning is undertaken. Mr. Bush has tried his best today to be compassionate and attempt to offer as much Federal help as possible. And many cities and individuals have offered their best efforts as well. Certainly there were mistakes made in the past. But good efforts to right those wrongs are now very sincere.