NEW ORLEANS, United States (AFP) - A top New Orleans police officer said that National Guard troops sat around playing cards while people died in the stricken city after Hurricane Katrina.
I wonder, why?
The National Guard commander, Lieutenant General Steven Blum, said the reservist force was slow to move troops into New Orleans because it did not anticipate the collapse of the city's police force.
Two-thirds of the NOPD deserted. Thugs were taking potshots at rescuers. And before anyone says the guard should have come in with guns ablazing and forcibly restored order, what do you think the ACLU and the rest of the leftist society said about that?
So, maybe the police commander should get the beam out of his own eye before he tries to get the speck out of his brother's eye.
6 comments:
What a sad, sad, mess.
It sure is, Esther. It really is.
I wonder if that's indicative (the police is who I'm referring to) of the quality of people that live in New Orleans. Remember. That city has one of the highest crime rates in the world and it had the highest murder rate in the US for a number of years.
VAR,
You are right. It is indicative of a sizeable portion of the city. As is the case with any place, it does not accurately reflect the entire population. The police force has one of the worst corruption rates, as well.
Gindy,
You are right. NYers rose to the occasion, bravely and nobly.
With some experience with the activation and mobilization of reserve units, I can say that it isn't a matter of snapping one's fingers and heading off to a city that is 80% submerged. Not all units are staffed at 100% of their TO&E, and this means that they are less than 100% effective in completing missions assigned to them. This is not entirely the ANG's fault; it is mostly about Americans not wanting to serve their country/state in uniform.
Should the CG of the LA ANG have assumed that the NOLA police department would have fallen apart so quickly? Well, perhaps. But I think it is much too soon to start pointing fingers or laying blame. There will be plenty of time for that later on, and I suspect that there will be lots of opportunity to assign blame. For now, we should be reaching out and helping people who need our help, regardless of how they got into such a mess.
You are right Mustang, it's way too early to assign blame. There are people that still need help and the focus should remain on them.
There will be investigations down the raod and those that are using this opportunity to score political points are going to be very surprised (if not embarassed) at what we discover.
Post a Comment