Armed gangs of roaming thugs are the primary reason relief efforts in flood-ravaged New Orleans have been delayed, a prominent New York congressman said Friday morning."The main problem in obstructing the relief operation - it's almost like a Mogadishu-like gang situation that's prevailing in New Orleans," Rep. Peter King told WABC Radio's John Gambling.
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"It's hard to get federal troops in to bring about order when the local police have broken down," he added. "I just think the situation would have gone a lot better if there were a Rudy Giuliani down there - someone who could have set a firm tone from day one."
Reports that rescue efforts have been blocked by violent New Orleans residents were widespread by Friday morning, with the New York Post noting:
• Gangs and armed men were said to be battling police and National Guard personnel. Outside the Superdome, where 20,000 survivors had sought refuge, a Guardsman was shot.
• A Louisiana National Guard colonel, Pete Schneider, told reporters that a shot was fired yesterday at a Chinook helicopter helping to relocate refugees.
• Fox News reported that two men with AK-47's fired on a police station.
• "In areas where our employees have been determined to potentially be in danger [from gunfire], we have pulled back," a Homeland Security aide said.
Columnist Rich Lowry added to the list of relief efforts that had to be halted because of violence, noting:
• Rescue workers report that rocks and bottles have been thrown at them and shots fired their way.
• Goons stole a bus from a nursing home and threatened its residents.
Meanwhile, the New York Daily News reported that New Orleans police were forced to withdraw from the convention center after evacuees sheltered there became violent.
"We pulled our troops out because civilians have taken over," a state trooper told News reporters on the scene. "We don't have the manpower to deal with them."
And then you have idiots like Al Sharpton saying that it is America's fault that there all these thugs living in New Orleans and that Bush doesn't want to help because most of the people are black....
Well, relief is not slow because Bush hates black people, its slow because there are too many thugs who want anarchy.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Thugs slow rescue effort
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9 comments:
There is no comparison between New York City on 9/11/01 and New Orleans today. Rudy Giuliani wouldn't have made any difference.
Rudy had to deal with a localized event. Although several blocks around ground zero were destroyed, the rest of the city was intact. A few businesses were displaced, but not hundreds of thousands of people. All the police stations, personnel, and weapons throughout the city were dry and intact and could provide staging areas for the police to assemble at work from. The police stations in NO were just as affected by the flooding as everything else. The city infrastructure was in place. There was running, potable water, food, gasoline, dry streets and highways, and electical power.
Please tell me how Rudy Giuliani would have made the current New Orleans situation better?
Reposted from "Real America" blog:
Game,
If it took a few days to realize that New Orleans was going to be flooded (even though this disaster has been predicted at LEAST since 2001) then why did they tell everybody to leave?
The reason the help is late is that there was no plan. We have billions invested in weather prediction, and we knew this storm was coming, and we knew it was going to be a category 4 or 5. Obviously, no plans or actions were taken prior to the flooding. The head of Homeland Security and the head of FEMA had to be told what the conditions were in New Orleans by the media. They had no clue as to what if any contingency plans were in existance prior to the disaster and didn't even know what was going on after. They only knew what the media was telling them.
How come the media could have "boots on the ground", but the Dept. of Homeland Security could not? Maybe because the media actually monitors the weather reports and knew what was coming? The media had people on the ground before, during, and after the storm. Where were the government boots?
It's terrible that some people are looting for financial gain. It's terrible that people are shooting. One percent of a hundred thousand people is a thousand people. (guessing numbers here) so I believe 99% of the people are just trying to survive.
Choppers can't come in because they're being shot at? They can land and deploy troops and equipment in Iraq under fire, but they can't do it in New Orleans? Ask the pilots if they were willing to go in.
The incompetence of nearly everyone in this adminstration with any responsiblity is MIND BOGGLING.
Don't get me started on Condi Rice. Her color has nothing to do with anything. Nothing! The only time you evey hear about her color is from the administration apologists who attempt to paint as racist anybody who would criticize her.
Condi Rice, at least prior to becoming Secretary of State, is probably THE most incompetent person in the Bush Administration. She will surely go down in history as the most incompetent National Security Advisor in US history. Feel free to refute this opinion if you like. I'd love to debate it.
OK, rant over. Thank you.
Rudy is mentioned in paragraph 2 of the original post here.
I don't think Bush hates blacks. But I think there is some justification for thinking that things might have been different if the overwhelming number of victims were white and middle class.
Now, I'm watching Bill O'Reilly (God knows why), and he is blaming the victims because they didn't leave the area when they were advised to do so. WHAT A MORON! How did he think thousands and thousands of poor people were going to transport themselves out of danger? And where did he think they were going to stay? "Extended Stay America?" These people don't have the money for hotel/motel rooms, and probably most don't have cars. Did Greyhound set up evacuation stations for people to grab their clothes and kids and hop on the bus for higher ground? I don't think so.
look at the next post for how they could have gotten out.
That would have been a good idea. Was there a plan to do this either by the city or the governor or the Federal Emergency MANAGEMENT Agency?
Regardless, don't blame the victims because the school busses weren't made available to them. Were the victims supposed to commandeer these busses?
never said it was the victims fault...really I was saying that its no one's fault...I was making a point that the people blaming Bush are idiots
Bill O'Reilly said it was their fault.
I found this interesting piece of information from Bush's interview with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America Thursday:
BUSH: —You mean the one I organized on Wednesday? Well, I…I…I…I started organizing Tuesday when we realized the extent of the storm and I said, “Look, when I get back to Washington on Wednesday afternoon I want to have a report on my…on my desk and a cabinet meeting for you to tell me exactly what your departments are going to do to help alleviate the situation.”
So on Tuesday he calls a meeting for Wednesday afternoon to find out what his cabinet departments are going to do. Sometime...soon?
No, this wasn't all Bush's fault, but I think he could have done better.
I think the federal government did not understand how bad the situation was...but this is a disaster unlike any other in history...the first responders could do nothing, and you had a whole group of people acting like savages...
saying Bush could have done better is possibly agreeable...saying he didn't do as much because most of the people are black is flat out bullshit.
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