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KATRINA REFUGEES: BLAME GAME BECOMES CONTROL GAME
Summary On the Ground (or Water): New Orleans will have to be abandoned for at least nine months, and many of its people will remain homeless for up to two years. Many currently salvageable properties will forever be ruined because government won't be able to get to them like owners would. They will be left to rot. What will be left will be the largest urban renewal project in the world, just ripe to be picked by Halliburton and other government connected "rebuilders." Now we have our own Iraq to deal with.
Fox news reports, "As floodwaters receded inch-by-inch Tuesday, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin authorized law enforcement officers and the U.S. military to force the evacuation of all residents." The trouble here is that this will be indiscriminately enforced -- even upon people who are on dry ground and who have stored resources.
Meanwhile, people left homeless by Hurricane Katrina have told horrific stories of rape, murder, and trigger-happy guards at the Superdome and the New Orleans Convention Center -- which have become places of violence and terror rather than refuge. People have accused the police and National Guard of standing by, ignoring their pleas for help. People trying to walk out were forced back at gunpoint -- for their own safety, they were told -- yet were provided no protection from predators inside the buildings. A Louisiana National Guard soldier said, "We are doing the best we can with the resources we have, but almost all of our guys are in Iraq (6,000 of them)." By Friday morning only two buses had arrived at the Convention Center to transport those inside out of the city, according to several trapped inside. As the repeated promises of buses fail to materialize, people in the shelters have started stealing cars.
Government At Its Worst: These stories and more indicate the state of chronic paralysis present at the highest levels of the relief operation. As the government bureaucracy mixes with such a large-scale disaster, painful inaction combines with ineffective or counterproductive action to exacerbate the tragedy. One witness said, "We had to wrap dead people in white sheets and throw them outside while the police stood by and did nothing... The police were in boats watching us. They were just laughing at us. Five of them to a boat, not trying to help nobody. Helicopters were riding by just looking at us. They weren't helping. We were pulling people on bits of wood, and the National Guard would come driving by in their empty military trucks." In another case, authorities decided to flood one New Orleans district that was dry in an apparent attempt to lower some of the water that had submerged a neighboring district.
Hundreds of police and postal workers are missing or AWOL. Scores of police officers are said to have resigned from the force, complaining their jobs had become too dangerous. Some are said to have committed suicide. Two African-American New Orleans women police officers were filmed at Wal-Mart helping themselves to merchandize -- in front of TV cameras (http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/september2005/050905policelooting.htm). Having seen videos of some of the low caliber people they hire in New Orleans for "public safety" it's little wonder they performed so poorly. Obviously, there are many valiant ones as well, who aren't getting any press.
Privatization Scandal: On June 3, 2004, IEM Inc., a Baton Rouge-based emergency management and homeland security consultancy (that has ties to the Bush administration) issued the following press release: "IEM will lead the development of a catastrophic hurricane disaster plan for Southeast Louisiana and the City of New Orleans under a more than half a million dollar contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)." The company took down the page as Katrina hit, when it became obvious this company failed to produce anything of value for its $500k (though the page now appears to be back online).
The insider dealing continues even after the disaster: According to Wayne Madsen (reported on rense.com), "Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco has announced that she is hiring Witt [James Lee Witt Associates. Witt was FEMA Director under Bill Clinton. --ed] to assist in the hurricane recovery. Just a minute here. His firm (which includes retired Gen. Wesley Clark) was part of the IEM team that came up with the non-existent $500,000 FEMA New Orleans-Southeast Louisiana Catastrophic Hurricane Disaster Plan. Why pay this guy again for his incompetence? Republicans + Democrats = Partners in Crime."
Refugee and Host Woes: Many thousands of those who remained in ravaged New Orleans in the aftermath of the disaster are problematic minorities with a history of corruption, crime, drugs, and welfare dependency. Many are overweight, unhealthy, and totally dependent upon a state and local government that could not protect them. Thus it is no wonder that people opening their cities and homes to many of these refugees are shocked by the low caliber of beings they have to deal with -- perhaps permanently. There are many exceptions to what I am reporting, so I don't want to use a broad brush.
In Houston, there are multiple reports of unsavory characters cruising the neighborhoods with LA license plates. The population of Baton Rouge, LA has doubled; it is now the largest city in Louisiana. Services there are overwhelmed, including hospitals and welfare services. All the rental properties in Baton Rouge are gone, and people are turning to buying houses if they can get credit. Gun stores are doing a brisk business as locals prepare to defend themselves against potential increases in crime. Nineteen states are now absorbing refugees from coast areas, and have no idea what to do with those they accept if this turns into a long-term problem, as expected. Private individuals offering housing are having second thoughts about the prospect of being stuck for months with tenants having few means to pay, and sometimes unsavory habits.
Meanwhile, FEMA is leasing every available camp and building it can find for long-term refugee housing. Some refugees are going to live aboard three Carnival Cruise Lines ships that have been pressed into service by the government to provide shelter for as many as 7,000 hurricane victims. Other centers are being readied in different areas. But the working rules indicate that these centers will seem more like halfway houses or prisons than shelters. All camps have significant numbers of security guards and troops assigned. Refugees in camps will not be allowed to leave. FEMA is exercising total control, and is refusing most private help unless it comes through long, bureaucratic channels.
The Money Issue: Former presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr. have been trotted out to spearhead the traditional private fund-raising relief effort. The AP reports, "President Bush intends to seek as much as $40 billion to cover the next phase of relief and recovery from Hurricane Katrina... Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the total tab for the federal government may top $150 billion." The way FEMA is doling out its new found billions, I think that's very much understated. Rep. Diane Watson (D - CA) wonders, "Why is it that the money people pay in taxes is going elsewhere and two (former) presidents are told to go out and collect private funds?... This whole affair has shown the weakness, inadequacy and misdirection of two world governments: money is spent on trips into space, wars abroad, and controlling terrorists, but there is little in place to protect taxpayers from harm in their home nation."
Prediction: The public fervor to "Do Something, Anything" combined with an unlimited spending budget will lead to the same kinds of insider rebuilding contracts in New Orleans as we have seen in Iraq. Once again, this demonstrates the evils of deficit spending. If Americans were to be taxed directly for these endeavors, they would demand much more scrutiny in the process.
The Blame Game: Editor & Publisher writes, "Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff told [reporters] Saturday that government officials had not expected the damaging combination of a powerful hurricane and levee breaches that flooded New Orleans. Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, said Sunday that officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, including FEMA Director Mike Brown and Chertoff, listened in on electronic briefings given by his staff in advance of Hurricane Katrina slamming Louisiana and Mississippi and were advised of the storm's potential deadly effects. Mayfield said the strength of the storm and the potential disaster it could bring were made clear during both the briefings and in formal advisories, which warned of a storm surge capable of overtopping levees in New Orleans and winds strong enough to blow out windows of high-rise buildings. He said the briefings included information on expected wind speed, storm surge, rainfall and the potential for tornados to accompany the storm as it came ashore... 'We were briefing them way before landfall, It's not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped.'"
Federal officials are now blaming their slow response on a lack of direction from State officials. The Washington Post reported on Sept 4, "Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said." Yet as Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo reports, a letter from Governor Blanco to President Bush clearly states that she declared a State of Emergency on August 26, 2005. The Post published a correction to that effect, but other news sources (such as Newsweek) that reported similar "sluggishness" on the part of Gov. Blanco have not.
Staged Bush Photo Ops Make It Worse: WhatReallyHappened.com has devoted a page to the various staged photo ops showcasing Bush with a facade of rescue workers and resources. Among the stories are these: "[NOLA reported,] 'Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush's visit to New Orleans, officials said.' ZDF News [Germany] reported that the president's visit was a completely staged event. Their crew witnessed how the open air food distribution point Bush visited in front of the cameras was torn down immediately after the president and the herd of 'news people' had left and that others which were allegedly being set up were abandoned at the same time. The people in the area were once again left to fend for themselves, said ZDF."
WRH continues with a report from Biloxi: "Two minutes ago the President drove past in his convoy. But what has happened in Biloxi all day long is truly unbelievable. Suddenly recovery units appeared, suddenly bulldozers were there, those hadn't been seen here all the days before... The President travels with a press baggage [big crew]. This press baggage got very beautiful pictures which are supposed to say, that the President was here and help is on the way, too..." The site also quotes LA Senator Mary Landrieu as she recalls her tour with Bush: "But perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th Street levee. Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later,... the desperately needed resources we saw were reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment. The good and decent people of southeast Louisiana and the Gulf Coast -- black and white, rich and poor, young and old -- deserve far better from their national government"
The site includes this quote from the Washington Post: "White House officials do not deny that they craft elaborate events to showcase Bush, but they maintain that these events are designed to accurately dramatize his policies and to convey qualities about him that are real." Frankly, I don't know how much more false they can be.
Honest Reporting Now Prohibited: Democracy Now reports, "Reporters Without Borders has issued a warning about police violence against journalists working in New Orleans. According to the group, on Sept. 1 police threatened a reporter and photographer from the Toronto Daily Star at gunpoint because they were seen covering a clash between police and individuals identified by police as looters. When police realized the photographer had snapped photos, they threw him to the ground, grabbed his cameras and removed the memory cards containing about 350 photographs. His press card was also torn from him. When the photographer asked for his photographs back, police officers threatened to hit him. Police also detained a photographer from the New Orleans-based Times Picayune after he was seen covering a shoot-out involving the police. Police smashed all of his equipment on the ground."
FEMA Makes Enemies of Local Officials: Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard spoke to NBC's "Meet the Press" about FEMA's interference with various rescue efforts:
"Three quick examples. We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water, trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn't need them. This was a week ago. [W]e had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. The Coast Guard said, 'Come get the fuel right away.' When we got there with our trucks, they got a word. 'FEMA says don't give you the fuel.' Yesterday -- yesterday -- FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice. Our sheriff, Harry Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards on our line and says, 'No one is getting near these lines.'
"And I want to give you one last story and I'll shut up and let you tell me whatever you want to tell me. The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, 'Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?' And he said, 'Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday.' And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night. Nobody's coming to get us. The secretary has promised. Everybody's promised. They've had press conferences. I'm sick of the press conferences. For G** sakes, shut up and send us somebody."
Conclusion: I believe that much of the FEMA obstruction was staged in order to create a crisis that will induce the American people to demand absolute federal power and control in all major emergencies. This is where this is all leading. The government didn't create the disaster, but they have seriously exacerbated the tragedy, and are set on controlling the outcome. In the end, the result will be even more concentrated power in the hands of our federal government, and fewer liberties for American citizens.
In anticipation of this, now comes the final cover-up and call for comprehensive legislation: The Scotsman reports, "George Bush risked further antagonizing his critics yesterday by rejecting calls for an independent commission to examine what went wrong in the handling of Hurricane Katrina and announced instead that he would personally lead an investigation." As usual, these investigations will lead to a call for more federal power.
Of course, the real tragedy lies in the reflex of American citizens to look immediately to their government for restitution from current tragedy and security from future crises. This well-conditioned reflex is the key trait used by governments to consolidate their power. A most refreshing view toward the new calls for government power to "rescue us" comes from Becky Akers in her piece at LewRockwell.com called, "Refusing Rescue". The language is tough, but true. Read it at http://www.lewrockwell.com/akers/akers17.html. | 