Bush takes on onus of response errors

WASHINGTON – President Bush for the first time took responsibility Tuesday for federal government mistakes in dealing with Hurricane Katrina and suggested the calamity raised broader questions about the government’s ability to handle both natural disasters and terror attacks.

“Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government,” Bush said at a White House news conference. “And to the extent that the federal government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility. I want to know what went right and what went wrong.”

Facing sharp criticism and the lowest approval ratings of his presidency, Bush scheduled a speech to the nation from Louisiana for Thursday evening. It will be his fourth trip to the devastated Gulf Coast since the storm struck two weeks ago.