LA Homeland Security *confirms* ARC kept out!

[Aenlic]

A decision made by the Louisiana Homeland Security to stop the Red Cross from setting up inside New Orleans rather than on the periphery has suddenly become the entire relief effort? That isn't just a stretch. It's a major leap. Impressive.

And just for Gawain. Guess who runs the Louisiana State Department of Homeland Security or to be more precise and use the actual name The Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, Gawain! Go ahead, guess! Bzzzt. Times up. LOHSEP is run by Major General Bennett C. Landreneau. Now it is remotely possible that a request by the Red Cross to locate in New Orleans made it all the way to the governor through the general without him saying no or expressing an opinion, very remotely possible. But when you are told that a Major General made the decision, you might want to check your facts before arguing the point.

And while we're on the subject, it was FEMA that delayed the airlift of people from the emergency triage set up at the airport and the makeshift hospital there, by military and civilian transport for a couple of days, even though the planes were sitting on the tarmac. Why? Because they insisted on gathering to the area enough air marshalls and baggage screeners to prevent a possible terrorist from boarding a plane. Effing unbelievable. Those clever terrorists planting a sleeper mole in New Orleans before the hurricane, who would then manage to be rescued and brought by helicopter to the airfield for triage and then evacuated by plane to some other airbase in the middle of effing nowhere! What a plan! That bin Laden is one clever guy, isn't he? Brilliant! FEMA... not so brilliant.

OK, let's hear the next round of Republican talking points regurgitated for our edification and amusement.

[Xiahou]

Yeah, Aenlic- terrorists would never try anything during a natural disaster. What kind of animal would do that? And certainly, there wasn't anyone in New Orleans causing mischief with firearms right?

A decision made by the Louisiana Homeland Security to stop the Red Cross from setting up inside New Orleans rather than on the periphery has suddenly become the entire relief effort? That isn't just a stretch. It's a major leap. Impressive.

Has anyone here taken a serious look at relief efforts outside of Louisiana? If so they haven't shared it with the rest of us. In fact, pretty much all of the anti-Bush attacks here pointed the situation in New Orleans as evidence of how racist, incompetent, ect he is.... But, if we refute said attacks we're "stretching"? Sounds like you're grasping at straws, honestly.

[Aenlic]

Yeah, Aenlic- terrorists would never try anything during a natural disaster. What kind of animal would do that? And certainly, there wasn't anyone in New Orleans causing mischief with firearms right?

So, let me get this right. You're saying it was OK to delay the evacuation of people too injured to treat at the temporary triage on the grounds that there might be a clever terrorist waiting to hijack a C-130 from his stretcher? Maybe lurch up and threaten the pilots with his IV line? "Take this plane and fly it into the White House or I'll pull out my catheter! Do it!" There might be a terrorist in your closest too. You'd better check.

[Xiahou]

So, let me get this right. You're saying it was OK to delay the evacuation of people too injured to treat at the temporary triage on the grounds that there might be a clever terrorist waiting to hijack a C-130 from his stretcher? Maybe lurch up and threaten the pilots with his IV line? "Take this plane and fly it into the White House or I'll pull out my catheter! Do it!" There might be a terrorist in your closest too. You'd better check.

Got a link for that story? I doubt you're giving the full picture.

And again, people keep trying to deflect the point here. Supplies didn't come to the shelters in New Orleans after the floods because they were stopped by state officials. Whether they had a good reason or not is irrelevant to our point- which is, that those who blamed the lack of supplies on Bush & FEMA incompetence were wrong. It was just an unfounded, knee-jerk reaction by Bush haters to try to score political points.

[Aenlic]

Right after you post a link specifically showing a terrorist threat in New Orleans after the hurricane requiring a need for baggage screeners to check the belongings of people who had just been airlifted by helicopters from rooftops in rising flood waters.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Really Gawain , I thought it had 4 times as many people there than they had planned to accomodate .

Before the hurrican even hit?

[Xiahou]

Right after you post a link specifically showing a terrorist threat in New Orleans after the hurricane requiring a need for baggage screeners to check the belongings of people who had just been airlifted by helicopters from rooftops in rising flood waters.

Sorry, I feel no need to even refute unsubstantiated claims- if you wont back them up, they should be dismissed entirely.

[Aenlic]

That's what I thought. While you're moping about unsubstantiated claims, where is your outrage at Gawain for making unsubstantiated claims that it was the governor of Louisiana who specifically ordered the Red Cross to not set up in New Orleans, rather than the Major General in charge of the office that made the decision? What's good for the goose isn't good for the gander? Can you say double standard? I knew you could.

[English assassin]

And certainly, there wasn't anyone in New Orleans causing mischief with firearms right?

woot, conservative accidentally makes comment that could support gun control alert, woot. Equates firearms owners with terrorists as threat, woot. Where's Charlie Heston when we need him?

Oh, wait. "guns don't cause mischief, people do." Nothing to see here people, keep walking.

Anyway, I think A's point is that by waiting to screen all these people in case one of them was a terrorist, the authorities must be taken to think that the terrorist capability in the US is so great that they are able to activate a terrorist within 24-48 hours, and get him into NO, and on a refugee flight, and then blow it up.

Which is either the stupidest thing I have every heard, or a damning inditement that your own authorities think they have been so ineffective against terrorism that the terrorists can do whatever they want. Or both

[Slyspy]

Help actual casualties or search for a hypothetical terrorist threat.......its a tricky one.

[Tribesman]

As for blaming the generals
Yes gawain the Generals , there are two of them and they have been in charge of that dept. since the military took it over in 1990 .....
So but the relief was blocked by bureaucrats who worked for Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco.
Yes and those bureaucrats happened to be two Major Generals , so oh dear gawain you are criticising the military , I suppose it would be different if it was the Marines eh ?

And to repeat this little nugget which you choose to ignore as it makes you "points" and those you have posted from media sources completely irrelevant .....
Would this be at the stage when the dome was already exceding its planned capacity?

Maybe this is a little hint about what was going on , but you don't seem to have picked up on it .
We want to get them out. and again in your next snippetwe want to get them out,'"
So it seems that they were attempting to evacuate the citizens for some strange reason , I wonder why they would want to be doing that .
Clearly the damn liberals in the military didn't really want to evacuate them at all , they just wanted to stuff them all into already overcrowded reception centres and then starve them . Yes that must be it .

[Adrian II]

Gentlemen, why don't we listen for a moment to the voice of reason?

Voice of reason

[Devastatin Dave]

Gentlemen, why don't we listen for a moment to the voice of reason?

Voice of reason

Why listen to a any voice of reason when its easier to just blame Bush?

[Gawain of Orkeny]

According to this Christian web site in a 2001 article, a Pew Center report showed that as far back as 2001, only 30% of people in the U.S. got their news from the "big three" networks' news. That isn't quite "the majority of Americans" is it? Hmmm, perhaps the numbers have gone up since 2001 for network news viewership! Possible? Maybe. Likely? Not really.

You just dont get it do you. The press and others have been saying why wasnt there supplies rushed in there and blaming Bush when in fact the desicion was made by the GOVENOR not to allow them in or do the Generals now have the final say in LA matters?

So it seems that they were attempting to evacuate the citizens for some strange reason

THey did not. They said it would encourage people to go there instead of evacuating. It wasnt full. They did have an evacuation plan but never put it into effect.

[Redleg]

How many people know how the State The Adjutant General is selected?

Its not necessarily chain of command promotion for the National Guard of any given state - its something else.


http://www.bayoubuzz.com/articles.aspx?aid=874

[Redleg]

As for blaming the generals
Yes gawain the Generals , there are two of them and they have been in charge of that dept. since the military took it over in 1990 .....

Is the the military as a whole that took over or was it the Louisana National Guard.

[Tribesman]

They said it would encourage people to go there instead of evacuating.
Ah so they wanted people to evacuate
It wasnt full.
Really Gawain , I thought it had 4 times as many people there than they had planned to accomodate . But hey you can always fit more people in can't you , maybe stack them up , put a few in the toilet cubicles (as they were insufficient to be used anyway so might as well utilise the space) .