Katrina faults admitted

MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. -- The former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Michael Brown, yesterday accepted a greater share of the blame for the government's failures after Hurricane Katrina, saying he had fallen short in conveying the magnitude of the disaster, and in calling for help.

''I should have asked for the military sooner. I should have demanded the military sooner," Brown said before meteorologists in this Sierra Nevada resort.

''It was beyond the capacity of the state and local governments, and it was beyond the capacity of FEMA," Brown said.