Theres 4200 national guard going in within the next few weeks. For those shooting at blackhawks, one day they are going to shoot at the wrong one and theyll break out the machineguns and thatll be all she wrote...
I don't care what anyone says, that's not enough. There should be tens of thousands of national guardsmen there now, not in a few weeks. People are in need of food, water and medical attention as many are dying in what are left of the streets because of exposure and exhaustion. Thousands of people have been stranded on highway overpasses where they have been sleeping for days. why? The amount of help that's down there is truly pathetic and FEMA along with other agencies should be ashamed of themselves. The US mobilizes thousands of tons of food, water and medical supplies along with thousands of troops and rescue specialists to send to other nations when they have a disaster, but can't seem to do a damn thing with the #1 worst disaster in the history of this country. I want to know what the problem is. I want to know why in the richest, strongest and arguably most compasionate nation in the world, people are dying from exposure 4 days after a disaster strikes. I knew this was going to be bad. I said I had a real bad feeling about all this in the beginning of this thread. I only wish that I was wrong... FYI... For those in the UK who have yet to comprehend the scale of this disaster, here's a little blurb from your own BBC website: "... about 90,000 sq miles (234,000 sq km) has been affected by the hurricane - an area roughly the size of the UK." In addition, according to CNN, there have been experts who estimate that the New Orleans region may be uninhabitable not for weeks or months, but possibly decades.
Guardsmen arent like regular active duty military they have to mobilize and get ready. Going in half prepared wont help anybody and might actually get people hurt / killed. Getting a handle on the situation is the hardest part at the moment. The damage is so extensive that even us 200 miles away didnt have power for nearly 3 days and some still have nothing. There are tens of thousands of people still stuck in new orleans. Moblizing people and organizing supplies are two different things. It just takes time, alot of roads down there still arent 100% clear and the closest airports are here in jackson / western lousiana...
Understandable, but I still don't accept it. It just seems to me that we had boots on the ground within only a few days after the tsunami last year. I'm just seriously frustrated about the whole thing and wish I could do something to help these people other than donate money (which I have done). To me, this is just the typical MO of the government - when it comes to foreign nations, things get done quickly, but when it comes to domestic issues, for some reason things don't seem to get done as quickly. Maybe it's because it's one of those "too many cooks in the kitchen" things..
Where do you want me to start? But yeah, even though as a psychologist I know the answer to that question, and I should not at all be surprised, I still found myself asking that same question...
Wow this is really screwd up I had NO idea at all it would be this serious. What I can't believe is poeple shooting resuers who are attempting to save their life. If I was the helicopter pilot I would just think shoot at me ? Good luck trying to survive now, bye.
Seems like up to 40% of the national guard in some areas are serving abroad.The Bush administration slashed the budget for repairs to the levi dykes around New Orleans.Reports say up to 40% of police in some areas of New Orleans have resigned/left.The majority of New Orleans residents are black and voted democrat.The vast majority of the watching world sympathise but cannot send help unless America asks for it.HELP IS COMING is all the administration can say.If this had happened in Florida aid would have arrived a lot faster.Bush popularity at lowest ever.Mayor of New Orleans can give up the thought of dining at White House in the near future. Various comments on Fox,CNN and SKy news channels.
Okay, I did a bit of research on this whole thing and this is what I found out: S. Asian Tsunami... -- Within 24 hours, U.S. Navy P-3 Orion reconnaissance aircraft began flying missions over the affected areas to help assist in the search and rescue effort and to assess the extent of the damage. -- More than two dozen U.S. ships (including an aircraft carrier battle group, a Marine amphibious group, and the hospital ship USNS Mercy, which remained after the main Naval forces departed) and over 100 aircraft were dedicated to the disaster relief effort at an estimated cost of some $5 million a day. -- Six Maritime Preposition Ships from Guam and Diego Garcia also were dispatched to the area to provide critical drinking water: each can store about 90,000 gallons of fresh water and is capable of producing 36,000 gallons daily. -- Within 48 hours of the tragedy, with news reports still estimating that "20,000 people are feared dead," the U.S. Pacific Command was already establishing a joint task force to coordinate and conduct humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations. -- Three days after the tsunami struck, Combined Support Force 536, under the command of Marine Corps Lieutenant General Robert Blackman (who also commands the Third Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa), was already playing a key role in coordinating the U.S. and initial international effort. and it goes on like that. So in essense within 3-days after the Tsunami, the US military had mobalized and were on scene with assistance. We are now at t+ day 5 and we are finally seeing a military response in the south. the mayor of New Orleans has gone on record via a radio interview as saying "They don't have a clue what's going on down there, Excuse my French everybody in America, but I am pissed." Here's more quotes: "This is a national disgrace," said New Orleans' emergency operations chief Terry Ebbert. "We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans." "I don't treat my dog like that," Edwards said as he pointed at the woman in the wheelchair [who was dead]. "You can do everything for other countries, but you can't do nothing for your own people." Now, I understand that we're talking about 90,000 square miles which is a region larger than the entire island of Great Britain (83,698 sq miles) and more than 1/2 the size of Iraq (167,000 sq miles), but the military should have been mobalized or at least on the ready when Katrina struck. It's not like there wasn't any warning that this may be a real bad. Most of you know that I'm one of the 1st people to jump into a thread and defend this country, but I'm ashamed at the response so far. Well, let me qualify this... I'm proud of the American people and what we have done: hundreds of people opening their homes to victims all across the south and giving sometimes multiple families, complete strangers, a place to stay; indapendant truckers loading their rigs with ice, water and supplies and driving from 10 to 18 hours on their own dime, to bring them to victims; the list goes on.
proof that bush made this worst I came across this at little-gamers.com it seams that the bush administration repeatedly cut funding to build levies. the bugdet cut got so bad they couldn't repair many old ones. and look what he was doing while new orleans was getting trashed i ain't voting for his party next time around, and i'm guessing neither will new orleans
I think it's sick that Bush hasn't made any sort or real effort to get at least food to the people by air drops!!!
That's not really fair, it's not Bush's fault entirely. Yes, I've been blasting the government about this, but it's not one single agency's or person's fault. FEMA should have had a plan in advance, the military should have been on alert or standby and the feds as a whole should have been more prepared. Like I said, it's not that no one had any warning about this. EDIT:: They are now saying that if people don't get to the Bell South switching station in downtown New Orleans to cool it down, it will overheat and most of the South East will lose phone service. A convoy of school buses are now ariving at the Superdome to move refugees A convoy of 10 or 15 fire trucks have arrived from Los Angeles County to help with the fires Convoys of military vehicles packed with supplies moves into flooded streets of New Orleans. It seems that help is finally beginning to arrive. I just hope that it's not too late. From the AP: The U.N.'s humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, said Katrina was one of history's most damaging natural disasters. He said it had caused more destruction than last year's December 26 tsunami that killed an estimated 180,000 across southern Asia, AP reported.
don't forget bush has the power of executive order, that means if somthing needs to be done in a hurry he can order someone to do it. it was created for an emergency event, so that the government could act quickly, this is just that event, and no executive order.
did you read that link dad? for me the worst thing is that even though you can't predict the future, and thus it couldnt have been foretold, it looks like there could have been more/better preparations made for an event like this!! i just hope with help arriving that things will settle down a bit, so that everyone can get on with doing their job and helping each other out!
did you read it? the levies that broke were the ones they wanted money for, money to repair and fortify, and this would mean the difference between a couple feet and whole buildings. As time pass the dirt settles and the levies drop, they wonted money to make them stronger, shure there would still be flooding, but it would be easier to repair that a 2 block gap.
Maybe I wasn't clear about my view on this. I was talking about the rescue efforts, not the preventative measures. I agree 100% that this was most likely a result of reallocation of funds that were supposed to be earmarked for the New Orleans dyke system. As far as executive order goes, there is no United States Constitution provision or statute that explicitly permits this, aside from the vague grant of "executive power" given in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution. In addition, from what I understand, an "executive order" can only be given on a national level as each state has their own constitution. Bush actually has given "executive orders" in response to this: the release of 2-million barrels a day of crude from the emergency stockpile, the calling up of thousands of National Guardsmen, the mobilization of the Army Corps of Engineers along with some Navy ships to the region and the appropriation of $10.5b in relief money.
I think most of them may be experiencing some difficulty getting on-line at the moment... or are preoccupied with more important matters.
Very true.. I think we're just trying to figure who is from the area so we can look for a post from them when they get back online to make sure they are okay.. Know what I mean?
that still doesn't make up for realloction of fund, i say that residents of new orleans form a class action lawsuit against the adninistration for gross neglagence, to the tune of lost revenue from no mardi gra.
