Wednesday, September 7 2005 10:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Stung by criticism over his administration's sluggish and confused reaction to Hurricane Katrina, US President George W Bush yesterday (Sept 6, 2005) said he would investigate what went wrong with the relief efforts and send Vice President Dick Cheney to the stricken areas.

"What I intend to do is to lead an investigation to find out what went right and what went wrong," he said after a cabinet meeting and noted that the response to Katrina boded ill for any response to a terrorist attack in the future.

Cheney would travel to afflicted areas on Thursday with the mission of assessing recovery efforts and removing any 'bureaucratic obstacles' to helping the survivors, he told reporters after a cabinet meeting, the first since the Hurricane spread death and destruction.

He will work with Cabinet Secretaries to "make sure that we remove any bureaucratic obstacles that may be preventing us from achieving our goals. In other words, bureaucracy is not going to stand in the way of getting the job done for the people."

Bush said, "it's very important for us to understand the relationship between the federal government, the state government and the local government when it comes to a major catastrophe. And the reason it's important is, is that we still live in an unsettled world.

"We want to make sure that we can respond properly if there's a WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) attack or another major storm. And so I'm going to find out over time what went right and what went wrong."

Bush made it clear that he is not looking for scapegoats. "I think one of the things that people want us to do here is to play a blame game. We have got to solve problems. We are problem-solvers. There will be ample time for people to figure out what went right and what went wrong. What I am interested in is helping save lives."

"Our immediate goals," said Bush, "are to complete the search and recovery, to restore essential services, to drain the water in the affected areas and begin removing debris." He said all are assessing public health and safety matters.

Asked whether he intends to replace anyone from his administration who has been widely criticized, Bush repeated that he is going to find out over time what went right and what went wrong.

He also objected to references to displaced Americans as 'refugees'. "The people we're talking about are not refugees. They are Americans and that the help and love and compassion of our fellow citizens."

Meanwhile, the Congress too pledged a separate investigation into the federal response to the Hurricane Katrina. "Government at all levels failed," Republican Senator Susan Collins said at the capitol.

"I believe that the recovery and relief operations will cost up to and could exceed USD 150 billion," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in a statement.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said water levels have dropped significantly in certain areas of the city but 60 per cent of it still remains under water.

"We're starting to see significant progress. I'm starting to see rays of light all throughout what we're doing."