The furies of nature, first Katrina, then Ophelia and now Rita, have lashed at American Gulf cities relentlessly. Katrina flattened New Orleans like it was a cardboard city, which was blown away and torn apart by the strong winds. The levees could not withstand the ruthless battering of the storm surges and were overtopped and breached. The city was submerged under water. The damage could not be exaggerated even using the hyperbole of rhetorical expression. Eyes could not believe what they saw on the TV screens.

The dewatering began after a callous delay on the part of the government, with the federal government blaming the State and the Local governments for not formally asking for the help of the federal government soon enough and the local governments saying that they didn’t have the resources to combat such an unprecedented fury of the nature. While the blame game played out, President George W. Bush ignored the protocol and took the control in his own hands and mobilized the forces to evacuate the city and provide relief to the hurricane victims. He uncharacteristically took the responsibility for the failure of timely preparedness against the onslaught of Katrina and prompt response after it had struck.

New Orleans is not yet completely dewatered when Rita has arrived with the fury of a category 5 hurricane. It has started spilling its water over the levees which are not fully repaired yet. One wonders why God is furious at America which is fighting His war against Iraq and international terrorism. The ill-advised atheists and agnostics could and would explain these hurricanes as devastating acts of nature, which are not motivated by the emotions of Godly anger. But since religion and God have entered the national politics, it is quite natural to wonder why God is angry with America which has a Godly president? Many, rightly or wrongly, believe that George W. Bush came into power by the will of God.

However nothing seems to be going right for the president. The Iraq war was over in two months; Baghdad was captured and Iraq occupied. The mission was accomplished. Where the hell did the insurgents come from? It appeared as if they sprang from the vanquished country by the will of the Devil. It is true that many political analysts had forewarned about the ‘aftermath of the Iraq war’. But these naysayers couldn’t be right, could they? After all, how could the defeated people become an insurmountable threat? The aftermath will be only a ‘footnote;’ how serious can it be? The unraveling events have proved that the footnote is more complicated than the actual ‘theme.’ The war was over in two months while the aftermath seems to be endless; it is still continuing after two years when it first began.

Katrina arrived when the president was vacationing at his ranch. Many people did not fail to notice the travesty that when the first tragedy (9/11) struck at the current administration’s watch, the president was at his ranch then also. The government fumbled badly and valuable time was lost in mounting the relief measures. The critics started talking about Iraq again. The money that is vanishing in the bottomless pit of Iraq could be better spent at home. But leaving Iraq in its present mess will be an admission of political failure, so the fight against insurgency must go on. It seems going into Iraq was easy but getting out is, well, ‘not so easy.’

Who could imagine Rita would arrive on the heels of Ophelia and Katrina as if one fury of nature in a year was not bad enough.

Well, this time at least, the government is well-prepared and the president is in the White House. Rita may fret and fume but its onslaught will be met with equal defensive force. What more damage can it do in an already flattened New Orleans? At worst, the dewatering pumps will need to run some more days. The recovery is delayed but recovery will be there for sure. The city will be rebuilt, better than it was before. Loss of human life was tragic but it happens in such events. Parts of Houston and Florida which are threatened by Rita are evacuated by the frightened residents.

In the past, people used to give human sacrifices to appease their angry gods. God of America has already taken His toll in New Orleans and other Gulf cities so, thank God, nobody probably has to offer any more sacrifices to appease His anger.