President George W. Bush has denied his government was slow to respond to Hurricane Katrina because most of the victims were black and also said it was "preposterous" to claim the Iraq war left insufficient troops to help with the disaster.
"My attitude is this: The storm didn't discriminate and neither will the recovery effort. When those Coast Guard choppers ... were pulling people off roofs, they didn't check the color of a person's skin. They wanted to save lives."
He also rejected some criticism that the military was stretched too thin because of the war in Iraq. He said it was "preposterous" to claim that the Iraq war resulted in insufficient troops to help out with the hurricane.
"We've got plenty of troops to do both," he said during a tour of the areas of the city ravaged by the hurricane. Some US black leaders have accused the Mr Bush administration of reacting too slowly in New Orleans because many of the victims were poor and black.
Mr Bush, whose job approval ratings have tumbled to the lowest of his presidency amid charges he was slow to respond to the hurricane, rode in an open, flatbed military truck through flooded streets of New Orleans after spending the night on a docked naval vessel, the Iwo Jima.
He saw damaged houses, downed trees and fetid, black and gray floodwaters. "We've got a lot of work to do, a whole lot of work to do," said Bush, accompanied on his tour by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco.
It was Mr Bush's third trip to the disaster zone and the first time he had entered the city center. He said the government will take a "sober look" at the response to the hurricane and determine what lessons are to be learned.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Michael Brown, subject of a welter of criticism at the federal response, was sent back to Washington on Friday and replaced by vice admiral Thad Allen of the Coast Guard.
Mr Brown's removal from relief operations on the ground came a week after Mr Bush publicly applauded his efforts, saying: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." The president told reporters: "There will be plenty of time to play the blame game."
But he said his objective right now was to solve problems. And he said it will be up to the people of New Orleans to design how their city should look after the crisis is over.