On his FOX news show, Geraldo Rivera made an interesting assertion: If Bernard Kerik had been confimed as Homeland Security chief, this Hurricane Katrina relief effort would have been handled a lot differently. "Bernie," said Geraldo, to the man who withdrew his name from contention after questions about the immigration status of his nanny arose, "I was on the roof with you in Baghdad. This, Bernie, is Baghdad all over again."

I don't know what Kerik was doing in Baghdad with Geraldo, but I do know that he was responsible for coordinating what was the largest disaster recovery effort ever mounted in the United States. Well, up until a week ago, that is. That alone was enough to get my attention - if anyone would know what he is talking about, it's surely Bernie Kerik.

Kerik shared with the audience what he saw as the biggest stumbling blocks in the early relief effort - lack of a central information sharing point, lack of leadership, lack of control. He explained that the biggest problem was the lack of coordination between three different levels of government - local, state and federal. He didn't blame anyone, nor did he assert that he could have done a better job - he just acknowledged exactly what one would have to know before tackling a problem of this magnitude - that it would be hard, unlike anything that's ever been done before. Uncharted Territory.

His opinions were interesting to hear, and were delivered without an ounce of arrogance, smugness or "I told you so" attitude. Kerik freely admitted that it is much easier to look back in retrospect and say what should have been done that it is to actually do the right thing at the time.

After hearing the interview, I couldn't help but think that Geraldo was right. Despite his personal problems and his alleged questionable background, I'm sure of one thing: if Bernie Kerik was in charge on August 29th, things would have been done a lot differently. If Bernie Kerik was in charge, a lot more lives would have been saved.