Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has become the latest American leader to speak out critically against the Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
Powell was interviewed for the ABC News show '20/20.' The interview is scheduled to be aired Friday evening.
'There was more than enough warning over time about the dangers to New Orleans. Not enough was done. I don't think advantage was taken of the time that was available to us, and I just don't know why,' Powell said according to excerpts posted on ABC's Web site.
He added, 'There have been a lot of failures at a lot of levels -- local, state and federal.'
Powell said he did not believe race was a major factor in the slow response by the government although he said many people were trapped in New Orleans because of poverty.
'I don't think it's racism, I think it's economic,' Powell said. 'But poverty disproportionately affects African-Americans in this country. And it happened because they were poor.'
The ex-general was the highest ranking African American official in the first Bush administration. He left after the first term ended as his influence was undermined by hardliners and neo-cons within the administration.
Many analysts think Powell would be a serious candidate to oversee the federal response to Katrina. Thus far, President Bush has not created the position of 'hurricane czar.'
