Counterparts Excoriate Red Cross Katrina Effort

Counterparts Excoriate Red Cross Katrina Effort: "Counterparts Excoriate Red Cross Katrina Effort

By Jacqueline L. Salmon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 5, 2006; Page A14

Two international Red Cross organizations issued scathing criticisms of the American Red Cross's chaotic response to Hurricane Katrina, accusing the charity of approaching the relief effort with a 'dangerous combination of ignorance and arrogance.'

The reports -- by the British Red Cross and the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross, which sent experts to the Gulf Coast shortly after Katrina struck -- say their American counterpart was ill-prepared for the disaster, relied on inexperienced volunteers in key positions and had an ineffective system for moving supplies to where they were needed."

Tags: Red-Cross-governance