This is pathetic.

[unixronin]

Everyone's demanding to know why more is not being done.  interdictor reports interviewing a Bourbon Street bar manager who talks about the 10,000 people who were told three days ago to walk to the Convention Center for evacuation, and who are still there waiting for evacuation that never came:

They had no food, no water, and no medicine for the last three days, until today, when the National Guard drove over the bridge above them, and tossed out supplies over the side crashing down to the ground below. Much of the supplies were destroyed from the drop. Many people tried to catch the supplies to protect them before they hit the ground. Some offered to walk all the way around up the bridge and bring the supplies down, but any attempt to approach the police or national guard resulted in weapons being aimed at them.

Mayor Nagin of New Orleans has accused officials of dragging their feet:

"You mean to tell me that a place where you probably have thousands of people that have died and thousands more that are dying every day, that we can't figure out a way to authorize the resources that we need?  Come on man," he said.

Meanwhile, FEMA is blaming the victims -- many of whom had no way to evacuate because all public transport had already shut down before the evacuation order was issued.  And what's our President doing about it?

He's glad-handing.  "President Bush planned a tour of Gulf Coast communities battered by Hurricane Katrina, a visit aimed at alleviating criticism that he engineered a too-little, too-late response."  Not issuing orders to get buses there from ANYWHERE AT ALL that there are buses, which should have been done days ago; not making sure relief supplies are given to people who need them, instead of thrown off bridges at them by National Guard troops who are afraid to let people lined up in single file with elderly and children first get near them; no, his goal is "alleviating criticism".  Oh, and don't forget brushing off offers of international aid and trying to pretend they're not coming in, even turning down aid offers at first, so that he can grandstand about America doing it alone and emerging stronger.  (Even Sri Lanka, still recovering from the December 26 tsunami, sent $25,000 -- all they could spare -- to the American Red Cross.)

And as if a hurricane and a flood weren't enough ... interdictor reports that what's left of New Orleans is burning.  There's fires in three separate places in the areas his team scouted this morning, presumably in the still-above-water CBD.

Comments

[sierra-nevada.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Yesterday, I was looking at C-SPAN and happened to catch the State Departmetn Daily Briefing. The spokesman claimed that all offers of aid from other countries was being accepted.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

They're accepting them now.  The offers were being refused until the news started reporting the offers.  There's aid teams from Canada that still aren't being allowed into the country, and Salvation Army teams right there outside New Orleans who aren't being allowed into the city.

[alienor77310.livejournal.com]

It's more like that help is being considered. Condi Rice said that "help wouldn't be turned down", but it has yet to be accepted. All newsreports here in France (and in the rest of Europe) say that help has been offered renewedly and they're still waiting for someone to answer. There are hurricane disaster recovery specialists, with tons of tents and cots, water treatment plants and generators ready to fly from Martinique and Guadeloupe. Heck, there's even a chopper carrier and other ships made available. Just waiting for the word.

[alienor77310.livejournal.com]

24 hours later, international offers for help are still "being evaluated" by FEMA.

[alienor77310.livejournal.com]

International help has been accepted at last. From what I read, the first specific offers (as in "We can send so many guys, so many choppers, n tons of emergency supplies and MREs") were made on the 31st or the 1st.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Well, that's one way of looking at it. Most of the early offers were, "You know what you need better than we do. Tell us what you need, and it's yours."

But even at that, it's not correct. One of the first offers came from France, which offered trained hurricane-relief teams already in the Caribbean (at Martinique and another location which escapes me). It included not only hurricane-relief teams but tents, cots, generators, water purifiers, emergency rations, emercency medical supplies, even a helicopter carrier.

Our government, in response, sat on its hands and mumbled.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Duh. You already said it was Guadeloupe. Sorry, I lost track of the comment thread.

[rbos.livejournal.com]

Canadian aid has thus far been refused as well. Medical supplies, and military units are standing by waiting for the word and have been since Tuesday. Some emergency medical teams have been dispatched already, but at the request of Louisiana, not the federal US government.

[nephthys510.livejournal.com]

excellent post.

I didn't follow all of your links, but did you link to the Canadians who offered help but were turned away at the border by homeland security?

It's a classic.

Could you xpost this to neph_politics?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Wilco.

[olafthunderfoot.livejournal.com]

add this to the fact that bush has transfered $ that wassupposed to go to the building/repair of the breakwaters and i'm thinkin there might be an impeachment startin soon!

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

If the recent poll indications are anything to go by, Bush and his little clique are history by next year. The neocons will probably lose both the House and the Senate. There's damned few red states left on the map.

I consider it very unfortunate that the only realistic alternative is the Democrats, who are just as bad but in different ways. It's like walking a tightrope between two tanks of flaming gasoline. Falling to either side is really, really bad.

[olafthunderfoot.livejournal.com]

i hear that. pity the governemnt propaganda machine, ooops, media avoids mentioning all the other parties for the most part.