← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Sertorius
Thread ID: 19968 | Posts: 17 | Started: 2005-09-03
2005-09-03 11:07 | User Profile
September 02, 2005
Troops begin combat operations in New Orleans
By Joseph R. Chenelly Times staff writer
NEW ORLEANS ââ¬â Combat operations are underway on the streets ââ¬Åto take this city backââ¬Â in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
ââ¬ÅThis place is going to look like Little Somalia,ââ¬Â Brig. Gen. Gary Jones, commander of the Louisiana National Guardââ¬â¢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. ââ¬ÅWeââ¬â¢re going to go out and take this city back. This will be a combat operation to get this city under control.ââ¬Â
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.
ââ¬ÅWeââ¬â¢re here to do whatever they need us to do,ââ¬Â Sgt. 1st Class Ron Dixon, of the Oklahoma National Guardââ¬â¢s 1345th Transportation Company. ââ¬ÅWe packed to stay as long as it takes.ââ¬Â
While some fight the insurgency in the city, other carry on with rescue and evacuation operations. Helicopters are still pulling hundreds of stranded people from rooftops of flooded homes.
Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and police helicopters filled the city sky Friday morning. Most had armed soldiers manning the doors. According to Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeremy Grishamn, a spokesman for the amphibious assault ship Bataan, the vessel kept its helicopters at sea Thursday night after several military helicopters reported being shot at from the ground.
Numerous soldiers also told Army Times that they have been shot at by armed civilians in New Orleans. Spokesmen for the Joint Task Force Headquarters at the Superdome were unaware of any servicemen being wounded in the streets, although one soldier is recovering from a gunshot wound sustained during a struggle with a civilian in the dome Wednesday night.
ââ¬ÅI never thought that at a National Guardsman I would be shot at by other Americans,ââ¬Â said Spc. Philip Baccus of the 527th Engineer Battalion. ââ¬ÅAnd I never thought Iââ¬â¢d have to carry a rifle when on a hurricane relief mission. This is a disgrace.ââ¬Â
Spc. Cliff Ferguson of the 527th Engineer Battalion pointed out that he knows there are plenty of decent people in New Orleans, but he said it is hard to stay motivated considering the circumstances.
ââ¬ÅThis is making a lot of us think about not reenlisting.ââ¬Â Ferguson said. ââ¬ÅYou have to think about whether it is worth risking your neck for someone who will turn around and shoot at you. We didnââ¬â¢t come here to fight a war. We came here to help.ââ¬Â
Copyright é 2005 [url]http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1077495.php[/url]
2005-09-03 11:23 | User Profile
We shouldn't need troops there. Where are the darn alligators? And didn't some clever guy a few years back figure out a way to disguise them as watermelon?
(Go ahead spiderman, jump all over me :biggrin: )
2005-09-03 11:32 | User Profile
Yeah, I bet the Clouseau Administration would much rather have them in the Middle East, building "democracy", invading another country, "defending Israel", etc.
2005-09-03 13:18 | User Profile
Having lived in nearby Lafayette, Louisiana for six years [1993-99], gotten to Baton Rouge and New Orleans dozens of times, I've seen my share of shifty, street-corner lurkin', low-slung off da-pants wearin', nappy-headed crack critters-on-welfare with far too many kids to try to feed on the Taxpayers' dime. Louisiana is a problematic locale: a lot of gimme-gimme mentality (both white-trash and "niggers") amidst some good people and very talented artists of all stripes.
I don't think "this is God's revenge"; I do, obviously, fault President Bush and Department of "Homeland Security" Chertoff for not being prepared to deal with a national tragedy, while, at the same time, sending our nation's military to far-flung regions for dubious purposes. I grieve for those who are suffering now, to lack of preparedness (both their own and FedGov's and the state of Louisiana gov.) and to lack of FedGov foresight and to the waste of manpower that are the military occupants of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sucks to be U.S. right now.
2005-09-03 14:53 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Okiereddust]We shouldn't need troops there. Where are the darn alligators? And didn't some clever guy a few years back figure out a way to disguise them as watermelon?
(Go ahead spiderman, jump all over me :biggrin: )[/QUOTE]
Why would I? Looters, killers and rapists should be shot on sight. Every one not shot means ten or twelve human beings dying for want of rescue.
You'd be irritating if you weren't so dumb. Fetishizing Ammon Reich isn't a badge of loyalty to whiteness no matter how hard you shake your fist at me for pointing it out.
Still with the smilies, I see. Perhaps you can one day construct a post made up entirely of smilies and spare us your text.
2005-09-03 17:36 | User Profile
Notice how the Times uses the word "insurgency" in the article like the niggers are some kind of armed force with a political objective. Very, very strange.
2005-09-03 17:41 | User Profile
Corncod,
Good point. He would been better off to describe the looters as looters. They do seem to have a fourth generation war going on down there.
2005-09-03 17:49 | User Profile
The first time one hears it, whether "raciss" or not, one is very suprised at the blacks reaction to the rescue operations and the whole looting scene. OK, looting can be explained by their thieving instincts. But shooting at people who came to rescue you?
Then it sinks in: blacks in the US have the same resentment for Americans as blacks in Mogadishu. This is despite all the years of whitey genuflecting at their feet.
2005-09-04 07:14 | User Profile
[QUOTE=madrussian]... OK, looting can be explained by their thieving instincts. But shooting at people who came to rescue you? ...[/QUOTE] Maybe they view the rescuers as party crashers.
2005-09-04 08:27 | User Profile
[QUOTE=il ragno]Still with the smilies, I see. Perhaps you can one day construct a post made up entirely of smilies and spare us your text.[/QUOTE] :cheers:
2005-09-04 11:39 | User Profile
September 04, 2005
Bush finally sends in the US Marines Tony Allen-Mills in New Orleans and Sarah Baxter in Washington
PRESIDENT George W Bush announced yesterday that he was sending in marines to speed supplies of food, water and medicine to the stricken inhabitants of New Orleans and complete the cityââ¬â¢s evacuation.
In the face of growing criticism that he has been too slow to respond to the crisis created by hurricane Katrina, Bush said that 7,000 extra troops would join 4,000 already operating in the disaster area.
The troops, who will start moving in today and will reach full strength by Tuesday, include some of the most battle-hardened men of the US forces.
The 82nd Airborne, the 1st Cavalry and the 1st and 2nd Marine Expeditionary Forces, all of which have seen action in Iraq, will bring relief to an estimated 30,000-60,000 people who have been stranded since New Orleans was flooded on Monday.
The Pentagon is also sending an additional 10,000 National Guardsmen to Louisiana and Mississippi, taking the total number of troops in the stricken region above 50,000. Among the guardsmenââ¬â¢s tasks will be to deal with snipers and looters who have hampered rescue services and terrified survivors.
Bush is experiencing a ferocious political backlash for his apparent failure to grasp the scale of the disaster sooner.
Yesterday, 24 hours after seeing the devastation for himself, the president acknowledged that many ââ¬Åangry and desperateââ¬Â people were suffering from an inadequate response to the emergency.
ââ¬ÅThe magnitude of responding to a crisis over a disaster area that is larger than the size of Great Britain has created tremendous problems that have strained state and local capabilities,ââ¬Â he said. ââ¬ÅThe result is that many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they need, especially in New Orleans. And that is unacceptable.ââ¬Â
The president will return to Louisiana and Mississippi tomorrow, a week after Katrina slammed into the Gulf coast.
While Bush claimed that the situation was improving ââ¬Åhour by the hourââ¬Â, people were dying at the airport. ââ¬ÅThe hallways are filled, the floors are filled. There are thousands of people there,ââ¬Â said Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader. ââ¬ÅA lot more than eight to 10 people are dying a day.ââ¬Â
About 15,000 people were still waiting to be rescued yesterday from the squalor of the cityââ¬â¢s convention centre. Repeated pledges of early evacuation had yet to yield a single bus.
One old lady was found lying on the pavement at dawn yesterday in downtown New Orleans. She had been tipped from her mobile stretcher during the night and left on the ground.
ââ¬ÅSomeone stole her stretcher,ââ¬Â said Bruce Lizalde, an airman who had helped to carry the dying woman to a small first-aid tent set up by the US Air Forceââ¬â¢s 149th medical team. ââ¬ÅThey just dumped her on the ground and left.ââ¬Â
Lizaldeââ¬â¢s medical team saved 25 patients overnight, including a blind boy with cerebral palsy who was near death after waiting all week for help.
The evacuation of the convention centre eventually got under way with the arrival of huge Chinook twin-rotor helicopters shortly before 10am. Those in urgent medical need were the first to leave.
Troops arrived too late to save at least half a dozen refugees who had died in an easily accessible spot while awaiting rescue near a bridge over the Mississippi, where lines of ambulances had stood empty for days.
David Vitter, the Republican senator for Louisiana, said he feared there were 10,000 dead and gave the government an ââ¬ÅFââ¬Â for its performance.
As the waters receded yesterday a glimpse of the scale of the disaster could be seen in the parish of St Bernard where bodies in the water were spotted roped together. ââ¬ÅThere must be some good Samaritan who is gathering them up and tying them together so we can dispose of them,ââ¬Â said Walter Boasso, a state politician.
A nearby mortuary was stacked with 196 corpses. Walter Maestri, emergency manager for the area, said: ââ¬ÅMany of them are drownings; some of them were crushed by falling trees, some impacted by low-lying debris.ââ¬Â
Bill Lokey, chief co-ordinator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said that rescue authorities were overwhelmed. ââ¬ÅThis is beyond anything weââ¬â¢ve ever done in this country. Itââ¬â¢s beyond our immediate capability for sure.ââ¬Â
Yet one preventable blunder followed another throughout the week as the city struggled to cope with the disaster. Aid officials claimed the residents of New Orleans had been left to fend for themselves without food, water and medical supplies as part of a deliberate policy to force them to leave.
ââ¬ÅThey donââ¬â¢t want people thinking they can get comfortable and be fed and watered indefinitely,ââ¬Â a senior aid co- ordinator said. ââ¬ÅItââ¬â¢s going to take months to clean up this place and they can do it easier if nobody is here.ââ¬Â
Last night the government requisitioned three luxury cruise liners to house the homeless. The Ecstasy, the Sensation and the Holiday, chartered from Carnival Cruise Lines, will provide shelter for 7,000 hurricane victims for up to six months.
As criminal gangs preyed on residents, a local policeman went on television to criticise ââ¬Åall the cowards that are here on the New Orleans police department that fled the city in the time of needââ¬Â.
He barely finished the interview when shots rang out ââ¬â sniper fire drawn by the camera lights.
Copyright 2005 Times Newspapers Ltd. [url]http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1764177,00.html[/url]
2005-09-04 21:45 | User Profile
Police Shoot 8 on New Orleans Bridge NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Police shot eight people carrying guns on a New Orleans bridge Sunday, killing five or six of them, a deputy chief said. Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley said the shootings took place on the Danziger Bridge, which connects Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River. [url]http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_09.html#076922[/url]
2005-09-05 01:17 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Sertorius]
ââ¬ÅThis is making a lot of us think about not reenlisting.ââ¬Â Ferguson said. ââ¬ÅYou have to think about whether it is worth risking your neck for someone who will turn around and shoot at you. We didnââ¬â¢t come here to fight a war. We came here to help.ââ¬Â
[/QUOTE]
[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=navy]I don't know if I should reenlist or not. Originally I joined up to help my country in the GWOT after 9/11. I know, I know. Pretty naive, huh?
Now I wonder if I'll just get shoveled off to some Third World rathole and forgotten - as our service personnel seem to be right now - when I am needed much more urgently here at home.
I had the best of intentions when I signed up, but it now seems to me the real threat to my liberty and my family's security speaks Spanish, flies a red, green, & white flag with a snake on it in its frontyard, and has a bumper sticker on its uninsured car that reads, F--K YOU, THIS IS MEXICO!
Do I really have any business risking my life on a fool's errand in the middle east when I look over my fence and see this? Don't really want to leave the service, but look at the mess we have here at home.[/color][/size][/font]
2005-09-05 03:23 | User Profile
[QUOTE] Police Shoot 8 on New Orleans Bridge NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Police shot eight people carrying guns on a New Orleans bridge Sunday, killing five or six of them, a deputy chief said. Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley said the shootings took place on the Danziger Bridge, which connects Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River.[/QUOTE]
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This story may have a tragic side to it, we probably can not imagine the confusion at ground zero at this time.
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[url]http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16494579%5E12377,00.html[/url]
Five dead 'were army workers'
September 05, 2005
At least five people shot dead by police as they walked across a New Orleans bridge yesterday were contractors working for the US Defence department, according to a report by The Associated Press.
A spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers said the victims were contractors on their way to repair a canal, the new agency said, quoting a defence Department spokesman.
The contractors crossing the bridge to launch barges into Lake Pontchartrain, in an operation to fix the 17th Street Canal, according to the spokesman.
The shootings took place on the Danziger Bridge, across a canal connecting Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River.
Early on Sunday, Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley of New Orleans said police shot at eight people, killing five or six.
No other details were immediately available.
2005-09-05 03:39 | User Profile
BK,
I saw that Australian earlier. I'm going to be optimistic, because I found the following story from MSNBC:
Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley said police shot at eight people carrying guns, killing five or six. Fourteen contractors were traveling across the Danziger Bridge under police escort when they came under fire, said John Hall, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers. None of the contractors was killed, Hall said.
[url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9156612/[/url] It was updated at 9:53 PM. I hope I'm right, I'd hate to think they had screwed up.
2005-09-05 03:41 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Cracker of the Whip]Maybe they view the rescuers as party crashers.[/QUOTE] I think you're right.
2005-09-05 04:25 | User Profile
Sert. I also hope that the early reports are mistaken and it will turn out that only some bad guys got snuffed.