Martial law in New Orleans

by **DrDebugDU** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 11:12 am

> where have I heard that applied before? I guess the Washington Wall is starting to crack as well... Ultimately that leeve will fail as well and flood the White House... --+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+-- New Orleans crisis shames Americans By Matt Wells BBC News, Los Angeles At the end of an unforgettable week, one broadcaster on Friday bitterly encapsulated the sense of burning shame and anger that many American citizens are feeling. The only difference between the chaos of New Orleans and a Third World disaster operation, he said, was that a foreign dictator would have responded better. It has been a profoundly shocking experience for many across this vast country who, for the large part, believe the home-spun myth about the invulnerability of the American Dream. The party in power in Washington is always happy to convey the impression of 50 states moving forward together in social and economic harmony towards a bigger and better America. That is what presidential campaigning is all about. But what the devastating consequences of Katrina have shown - along with the response to it - is that for too long now, the fabric of this complex and overstretched country, especially in states like Louisiana and Mississippi, has been neglected and ignored. Borrowed time The fitting metaphors relating to the New Orleans debacle are almost too numerous to mention. First there was an extraordinary complacency, mixed together with what seemed like over-reaction, before the storm. A genuinely heroic mayor orders a total evacuation of the city the day before Katrina arrives, knowing that for decades now, New Orleans has been living on borrowed time. The National Guard and federal emergency personnel stay tucked up at home. The havoc of Katrina had been predicted countless times on a local and federal level - even to the point where it was acknowledged that tens of thousands of the poorest residents would not be able to leave the city in advance. No official plan was ever put in place for them. Abandoned to the elements The famous levees that were breached could have been strengthened and raised at what now seems like a trifling cost of a few billion dollars. The Bush administration, together with Congress, cut the budgets for flood protection and army engineers, while local politicians failed to generate any enthusiasm for local tax increases. New Orleans partied-on just hoping for the best, abandoned by anyone in national authority who could have put the money into really protecting the city. Meanwhile, the poorest were similarly abandoned, as the horrifying images and stories from the Superdome and Convention Center prove. The truth was simple and apparent to all. If journalists were there with cameras beaming the suffering live across America, where were the officers and troops? The neglect that meant it took five days to get water, food, and medical care to thousands of mainly orderly African- American citizens desperately sheltering in huge downtown buildings of their native city, has been going on historically, for as long as the inadequate levees have been there. (...) The country has to choose whether it wants to rebuild the levees and destroyed communities, with no expense spared for the future - or once again brush off that responsibility, and blame the other guy. <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4210674.stm">news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4210674.stm</a> <img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40759000/jpg/_40759120_fire203longap.jpg"/> Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=drdebugdu>DrDebugDU</A> at: 9/3/05 9:15 am

by **Dreams End** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 11:51 am

Another poster on the discussion board for RI posted this link. Sorry I've already forgotten his or her name! Here's a scene that I bet has been repeated away from TV crews: <blockquote>Quote:<hr> At one point Friday, the evacuation was interrupted briefly when school buses pulled up so some 700 guests and employees from the Hyatt Hotel could move to the head of the evacuation line _ much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the Superdome since last Sunday.<hr></blockquote> <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/D8CCQNBO0.html">www.breitbart.com/news/na/D8CCQNBO0.html</a>

by **Dreams End** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:25 pm

QUTB posted a link of Geraldo and Shepherd from FOX. Please, go to this site and make copies of this video (highly compressed so its poor quality, but that's all right). If you have space to mirror it (until FOX lawyers come after you) please do so. <a href="http://www.crooksandliars.com/">www.crooksandliars.com/</a> I'm sure their server will be overloaded soon. Geraldo is SCREAMING "let these people out of here" while Shepherd Smith screams at Hannity, "There's a checkpoint on the only way out of New Orleans and they won't let people leave." Smith also says that people are sent to the Dome and Convention Center and then locked in and not allowed to leave. They are FURIOUS. And they are FOX REPORTERS. I now have a copy of this but no way to mirror it anywhere. It's not that FOX does the best reporting that makes this so important, it's precisely the fact that they typically do the worst reporting that makes this so important.

by **DrDebugDU** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:29 pm

Here is a mirror: <a href="http://rapidshare.de/files/4680974/Hannity-Colmes-Smith-Rivera-freak-in-NO.mov.html">rapidshare.de/files/46809...O.mov.html</a> Don't worry about the other stuff, because I have closed the window and that contains the delete instruction, so I can't delete it even if I was forced to do so <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/wink.gif ALT=";)"> More news feed: <blockquote>Quote:<hr> drm604 On BBC: Northern Command was in position, waiting for Presidential orders. This was on the episode of BBC World News which played on a local (Philadelphia area) PBS station at 6:00 am this morning. I can't find a stream or transcript online. It's sitting on my TIVO right now marked do not delete but I have no way to put it onto my hard drive and no place to serve it from anyway. If you do have a recording of it, it starts about 9 minutes in. I've done a hand written transcript, the spelling and punctuation are mine. The bolding is also mine to emphasize what I think is the important part. The BBC announcer was interviewing Lieutenant Commander Sean Kelly whom she referred to as Leftenant Commander. This is the entire interview with no missing context. Announcer: The relief operation is the largest ever conducted in America. It's being coordinated by the US Northern Command in Colorado. Leftenant Commander Sean Kelly explains how the relief effort is being organized. Kelly: US Northern Command is the command that coordinates the military support for our federal and state agencies. They call up and request a capability and we try and provide that capability, whether it's medical resources, search and rescue helicopters, food, water, transportation, communications; that's what we provide. A: So it sounds like you're providing a bit of everything. I mean, do you know how much you're actually providing? K: Right now we've got 4,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and marine and coast guardsmen supporting this. They've delivered more than 9 million meals, I can't remember how many millions of liters of water. A: 9 million meals? Do you actually have 9 million meals? K: It's those "meals ready to eat". The packaged meals that the Army takes out with them out in the field. We have 9 million of 'em ready. I know at least 100,000 went to the Superdome the other night to help the people out there in New Orleans. So they're staged at various places throughout Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. A: Now I'm sure you're aware of the criticism that the authorities have been slow to respond to this. When did you get the order to start relied work? K: NorthCom started planning before the storm even hit. We were ready for the storm when it hit Florida because, as you remember, it crossed the bottom part of Florida, and then we were plaining, you know, once it was pointed towards the Gulf Coast. So what we did was we activated what we call defense coordinating officers to work with the state to say okay, what do you think you'll need, and we set up staging bases that could be started. We had the USS Baton sailing almost behind the hurricane so that after the hurricane made landfall it's search and rescue helicopters would be available almost immediately. So we had things ready. The only caveat is, we have to wait until the President authorizes us to do so. The laws of the United States say that the military can't just act in this fashion, we have to wait for the President to give us permission. A: Now I gather that your engineers are also involved in pumping some of that flood water out of the areas. K: Yes, our military personnel are helping to reconstruct the levees which frees up the engineers to start pumping out the waters so that hopefully New Orleans can be high and dry soon enough. <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104">www.democraticunderground...ddress=104</a><hr></blockquote>

by **Qutb** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:53 pm

This was on the episode of BBC World News which played on a local (Philadelphia area) PBS station at 6:00 am this morning. I can't find a stream or transcript online. It's sitting on my TIVO right now marked do not delete but I have no way to put it onto my hard drive and no place to serve it from anyway. If you do have a recording of it, it starts about 9 minutes in. I've done a hand written transcript, the spelling and punctuation are mine. The bolding is also mine to emphasize what I think is the important part. The BBC announcer was interviewing Lieutenant Commander Sean Kelly whom she referred to as Leftenant Commander. This is the entire interview with no missing context. Announcer: The relief operation is the largest ever conducted in America. It's being coordinated by the US Northern Command in Colorado. Leftenant Commander Sean Kelly explains how the relief effort is being organized. Kelly: US Northern Command is the command that coordinates the military support for our federal and state agencies. They call up and request a capability and we try and provide that capability, whether it's medical resources, search and rescue helicopters, food, water, transportation, communications; that's what we provide. A: So it sounds like you're providing a bit of everything. I mean, do you know how much you're actually providing? K: Right now we've got 4,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and marine and coast guardsmen supporting this. They've delivered more than 9 million meals, I can't remember how many millions of liters of water. A: 9 million meals? Do you actually have 9 million meals? K: It's those "meals ready to eat". The packaged meals that the Army takes out with them out in the field. We have 9 million of 'em ready. I know at least 100,000 went to the Superdome the other night to help the people out there in New Orleans. So they're staged at various places throughout Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. A: Now I'm sure you're aware of the criticism that the authorities have been slow to respond to this. When did you get the order to start relief work? K: NorthCom started planning before the storm even hit. We were ready for the storm when it hit Florida because, as you remember, it crossed the bottom part of Florida, and then we were plaining, you know, once it was pointed towards the Gulf Coast. So what we did was we activated what we call defense coordinating officers to work with the state to say okay, what do you think you'll need, and we set up staging bases that could be started. We had the USS Baton sailing almost behind the hurricane so that after the hurricane made landfall it's search and rescue helicopters would be available almost immediately. So we had things ready. The only caveat is, we have to wait until the President authorizes us to do so. The laws of the United States say that the military can't just act in this fashion, we have to wait for the President to give us permission. A: Now I gather that your engineers are also involved in pumping some of that flood water out of the areas. K: Yes, our military personnel are helping to reconstruct the levees which frees up the engineers to start pumping out the waters so that hopefully New Orleans can be high and dry soon enough. So apparently everything was in position, waiting for Bush to do something. DU: <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4605183&mesg_id=4605183">www.democraticunderground...id=4605183</a> Why? Qutb means "axis," "pole," "the center," which contains the periphery or is present in it. The qutb is a spiritual being, or function, which can reside in a human being or several human beings or a moment. It is the elusive mystery of how the divine gets delegated into the manifest world and obviously cannot be defined.

by **Dreams End** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 1:02 pm

It looks like an impressive airlift has begun from the Convention Center. the irony is that it is primarily helicopters and not buses at the moment. Geraldo Rivera thinks there are about 100 evacuated every ten minutes. Ironic, of course, because road conditions were never a consideration for helicopters and this could have happened 5 days ago. The bad news is this: they are being taken to the Louis Armstrong International Airport and reporters say there is no coordination from that point. No one knows where they are going and, and this will be absolutely critical in the coming days and weeks and if you don't think this is intentional you surely do not belong on this board, there is no registry of people. No one is taking names and recording destinations. Without such a registry, it will be nearly impossible to track numbers of refugees nor for them to find each other. Once folks are settled somewhere, one would hope that taking personal info would be part of any relief effort. But where is that information to be posted? I would hope that, given my assumption that the federal government will not bother, some computer professionals will volunteer to set up an online database. This will be of limited success without some central entity urging every agency to report to this database. Someone will also have to think of privacy issues, but most folks will probably be happy to have the chance to advertise their whereabouts so others can find them. Finally, a CNN reporter said she spoke with DHS Secretary Chertoff. She was interviewing a former FEMA head. She said Chertoff said that the slow response was because the cell phones had gone down. Somehow, she kept a straight face as she asked the former FEMA head if that was something that would be easy to anticipate happening. Naturally, he said yes. The communication plan goes like this, with failure of one system leading to institution of the next: Land lines, then cell phones, then radios, then satellite phones. This plan is central to any emergency response and so obvious as to not even require discussion. I don't blame Chertoff, actually, because he is not qualified for his post but only attained it due to an affirmative action program for the undead. As you all know, the undead have slower response times and it's also tough for them to get out in the daytime. (Sorry, I'm a little punchy at the moment.) Oh, let me put this prediction down. The part about reporters from an earlier post is surely coming true. I'm seeing nothing but looped footage now and some live action scenes from the Convention Center and airport. I would hope that some reporters with some guts might get out into the rest of New Orleans but I think that's less and less likely. There's still the problem of all those bodies. I think the most likely scenario is a massive fire. There are sections of NO that are densely packed, old wooden structures. My assumption is that a few fires could spread to erase much of the evidence. some oil in the water would assist this process, but right now, the only oil leak I'm hearing about is one that is on the Mississipi south of New Orleans. Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=dreamsend@rigorousintuition>Dreams End</A> at: 9/3/05 11:09 am

by **DrDebugDU** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 1:43 pm

German State Television ARD and ZDF. News bulletin 20:04:34-20:05:23 Sept 2nd 2005. Translation of the Transcript: From the last report. Now live from Biloxi, Christina Adelhard (sp?) Two minutes ago the President has passed here in his convoy, but what has happened here in Biloxi during the day is unimaginable. Suddenly salvage troops appeared. Suddenly clean up crews appeared . That was something the people had not witnessed here before and that in an area where it was not necessary to clean up on a grand scale, because nobody lives here anymore. The people have moved on into the city. Nevertheless the President travels here. The press therefore can take wonderful pictures which is supposed to suggest that the President where there and the help will also arrive. The scale of the natural catastrophe has shocked me, but the level of choreography has also shocked me. With this we return to Hamburg. MP3 file of the reporter in German: <a href="http://rapidshare.de/files/4684828/01-_tagesschau_de_-_tagesschau__20_00_Uhr__02_09_05.mp3.html">rapidshare.de/files/46848...5.mp3.html</a>

by **DrDebugDU** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 2:21 pm

NNN0LHI Troops begin combat operations in New Orleans <a href="http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1077495.php">www.armytimes.com/story.p...077495.php</a> NEW ORLEANS — Combat operations are underway on the streets “to take this city back” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. “This place is going to look like Little Somalia,” Brig. Gen. Gary Jones, commander of the Louisiana National Guard’s Joint Task Force told Army Times Friday as hundreds of armed troops under his charge prepared to launch a massive citywide security mission from a staging area outside the Louisiana Superdome. “We’re going to go out and take this city back. This will be a combat operation to get this city under control.” Jones said the military first needs to establish security throughout the city. Military and police officials have said there are several large areas of the city are in a full state of anarchy. Dozens of military trucks and up-armored Humvees left the staging area just after 11 a.m. Friday, while hundreds more troops arrived at the same staging area in the city via Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters. <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1749646">www.democraticunderground...02x1749646</a> See also: Minstrel Boy Army Times: "Troops begin COMBAT operations in New Orleans" <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4605494">www.democraticunderground...04x4605494</a> The army is now calling it an "insurgency" <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4606046">www.democraticunderground...04x4606046</a> Lerkfish Explain these facts, if not a strategy to impose martial law, what? 1. we KNOW that false or exaggerated reports of violence are being made by FEMA (there are real acts of violence as well, but we also know of fabricated ones) 2. we KNOW that even in the face of people dying on the news, FEMA pretends to not know about it. 3. we KNOW that Bush and Chertoff and Brown all mention SECURITY priorities before RESCUE. 4. we KNOW that they have frequently halted aid getting in, for no apparent reason. 5. we KNOW the response has been beyond logical slowness to get NG there. 6. we KNOW other cities (like chicago) have offered assistance and been rebuffed 7. we KNOW relief efforts were initially started under various agencies, and then commandeered by the feds, after which nothing happened nor was allowed to happen for several days. 8. we KNOW that FEMA and HS have been working overtime to blame victims and to characterize them as looters and refugees. 9. we KNOW that local officials (like the mayor of NO and the gov of LA) have been vocal about the feds PREVENTING or REFUSING to offer aid when it was available. 10. we KNOW that the Red Cross has been barred entry. 11. we KNOW that folks at the convention are barred exit by an armed NG checkpoint 12. we KNOW that Harry Connick Jr. and news crews are able to drive their large trucks directly to the people but FEMA claims they can't. 13. we KNOW that individuals driving down to assist are being stopped by NG. 14. we KNOW that rich, white folk at the Ritz Carlton had their OWN NG UNIT as security and were evacuated before aid was brought to the convention center. 15. we KNOW that a "zero tolerance" for looting was announced early on 16. we KNOW that NG units were ordered to "shoot to kill". 17. we KNOW that Bush suddenly complains efforts are "unacceptable' and then announces a breach of posse comitas, that will not occur for at least 72 hours. That means, they are expecting to not evacuate people fully in that time, but they can ship in troops, actually INCREASING the number of mouths to feed and hydrate instead of reducing them. 18. we KNOW that they are spending a lot of PR time on Honore, the "John Wayne" take charge general, "getting the job done". 19. we KNOW that the purpose of the NG is to help in disasters, not be in Iraq, and we KNOW that the purpose of active troops is to be in Iraq, not on our soil. WHY would you swtich them? Lerkfish Explain these facts, if not a strategy to impose martial law, what? let's connect the dots, shall we? <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2057984&mesg_id=2057984">www.democraticunderground...id=2057984</a>

by **proldic** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 2:26 pm

Dallas Morning News 9/3/05 Dallas makes desperate plea for help MELANIE BURFORD/DMN Pamela Harris, center, the volunteer coordinator for Red Cross at Reunion Arena, asks for patience as the first Hurricane Katrina refugees arrived.Dallas City Officials made a desperate plea for help Saturday morning, saying that, within hours, they will have far more Hurricane Katrina evacuees than they can possibly manage. Officials in Mesquite, overwhelmed with hurricane survivors, said they could no longer handle the busloads and was shutting down. Dallas police scrambled to set up a new area, and as of 11 a.m., said it would likely be near the Convention Center... Updated 12:02 p.m. <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/">www.dallasnews.com/</a>

by **proldic** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 2:38 pm

UK Independent Friday, 02 September 2005 Major explosion rocks New Orleans By Allen G. Breed, AP A massive explosion today rocked the New Orleans riverfront a few miles south of the French Quarter. The blast - at a chemical storage facility - jolted residents awake at 4.35am local time (10.35am BST). A series of smaller explosions followed. Flames of red and orange shot into the pre-dawn sky. A series of smaller blasts followed, and then acrid, black smoke could be seen even in the dark. The smoke could be seen from miles away and was still rising thickly hours later as day broke. The explosions were close to the east bank of the Mississippi River, near a residential area and rail tracks. At least two police boats were at the scene... <a href="http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article309770.ece">news.independent.co.uk/wo...309770.ece</a>

by **Qutb** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 2:38 pm

<a href="http://www.ksl.com/?nid=282&sid=101778">www.ksl.com/?nid=282&sid=101778</a> Guard Sees Parallels to Iraq in Louisiana NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A month ago, this steamy riverfront offered Michael Rogers a much-needed vacation after a year's tour in Iraq. His head was spinning when he returned in his National Guard uniform, unable to shake the similarities to his time on the streets of Baghdad. An angry crowd. A hot blazing sun. A murky mixture of resentment and gratitude. ... "This right here I'd have to say is very similar to Iraq, the way the people are _ hungry, very angry," said Rogers, a 33-year-old specialist. ... "They're clapping on one side, because they see the security. On this side they're not clapping, they're hungry and thirsty," Richards said. "It's like Baghdad all over again ... The only thing different about this is there's no car bombs, no IEDs, nobody shooting at you." Qutb means "axis," "pole," "the center," which contains the periphery or is present in it. The qutb is a spiritual being, or function, which can reside in a human being or several human beings or a moment. It is the elusive mystery of how the divine gets delegated into the manifest world and obviously cannot be defined.

by **proldic** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 2:45 pm

UK Independent Saturday 03 September 2005 Explosions and smoke awaken the city to another day of horror By Andrew Buncombe in New Orleans ...The day began before dawn as the refugees were shaken awake by powerful explosions miles away in the industrial area. As plumes of thick black smoke climbed into the sky, the acrid cloud added its stench to the stagnant flood waters... <a href="http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article309902.ece">news.independent.co.uk/wo...309902.ece</a>

by **DrDebugDU** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 3:44 pm

Witness account Bison William I was told to leave or be arrested I live in Fort Smith Arkansas and 360 people from NO have been shipped to an old army base outside our town. The problem is the base barracks they have put the people in is listed as a toxic waste dump. The barracks are so inundated with lead paint that the people that have to get around them wear masks so they don't have to breathe the fumes coming off them. There is no air conditioning and it is 95 degrees at this time of year. I am afraid some of the older people will die of stroke from the heat. This morning I went out and snuck into the area where they are being kept and told many of the people that the buildings were poisonous and got many of them to promise to leave as quick as they could before I was told to leave or be arrested for inciting a riot.. When I say the building are poisonous you must believe me. They have been trying for years to find a way to destroy them but the EPA won't let them do it..If they burn them it will release lead into the air and it will settle in the lakes and streams around the area. They can't tear them down and send them to other places because no one wants poisonous wood..They ground around them is even poisonous from the lead wash off when it rains. So what does our Illustrious Repug Governor do,.. well he puts NO refuges in them... Ain't that america baby.. <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4608754&mesg_id=4608754">www.democraticunderground...id=4608754</a>

by **Dreams End** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 4:06 pm

Chertoff again. Press conference half an hour ago. Said that the problem was that they had never contemplated both a hurricane AND a levee breach. Of course, we all know that this exact scenario was THE MOST LIKELY NATIONAL DISASTER forecast for years by experts from FEMA to National Geographic. Reporters challenged him a LITTLE bit...but basically allowed the statement to stand. He is a bad bad man.

by **Peachtree Pam** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 4:16 pm

Can you believe it? What is he going to oversee - the slaughter of innocents ? The last thing needed now is troops. What is needed is a PLAN, and buses, and medicine, and field hospitals, and places to take these people in. They need a clean environment, food, and shelter. It all makes me sick.

Martial law in New Orleans

Re: Hell's Kitchen

Don't choose to be poor

Re: Don't choose to be poor

Re: Don't choose to be poor

Military on standby, blocked by Bush

Good news and bad news

Re: Good news and bad news

Re: Troops begin combat operations in New Orleans

Dallas City Officials Make Desperate Plea For Help

Already Noted? "Major" Explosion Rocks New Orleans

Guard Sees Parallels to Iraq in Louisiana

Multiple Explosions Rock New Orleans Industrial Area

Re: Multiple Explosions Rock New Orleans Industrial Area

Re: Guard Sees Parallels to Iraq in Louisiana

Rumsfeld to come to LA and MISS

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