What is going on in New Orleans now is a government drill in the use of natural disaster to fight urban warfare. What is the coincidence of THREE breaks in the levees occuring as they did. This is like the non-collapsible collapsing World Trade Centers falling down from fire within minutes of each other when that type of destruction had never occured before! All of those angry and impatient people waiting around in New Orleans are being goaded by a government that laughs behind their backs. When people can be made to act like animals, then the government has a control mechanism over the direction of their emotions. Every act that the government undertakes has many untold angles and certainly preparation for urban warfare drilling on live American citizens requires something that would make those citizen rise up in revolt.
So, Where Are The Terrorists?
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7297.shtml
As the fourth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaches, an obvious question should be asked: Why has al Qaeda -- the name given to the loosely affiliated terrorist network inspired by Osama bin Laden -- not launched even one follow-up attack within the United States? Even more surprising is the fact that no Islamic terrorist organization of any kind has carried out such an attack on American soil. That a nation of 300 million extraordinarily diverse people, featuring thousands of miles of largely unguarded borders, has managed to stay terrorism-free over the course of the last four years can be interpreted several ways. But it's certainly possible to draw the conclusion that, when it comes to terrorism, we have nothing to fear so much as fear itself.
Pentagon Finds More Who Recall Atta Intel
Translation: Atta was a protected asset, not a terrorist.
Silent majority of Americans oppose Iraq war, but don't support protests?
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/12535526.htm
"From day one I never felt like we were able to go over there and do what we wanted to do. But now all of our troops are over there. I understand why the president doesn't want to pull them back, because then it's like all of the lives were lost, and for what?"
Insurgents regain foothold, unleash terror in Fallujah
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20050831-094717-8087r.htm
No one knows how many terrorists have returned to what was once their most formidable stronghold. They increase with the population, which now stands at about 130,000 -- half of what it was before a massive U.S. offensive in November.
Gunmen shot and wounded a National Guardsman outside the Superdome stadium in New Orleans and a helicopter also came under fire overnight as deepening lawlessness gripped the historic city.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0%2C5478%2C16455035%255E661%2C00.html
The two incidents happened during a tense night, with security forces battling looters as bands of armed men roamed the city in scenes of rising anarchy.
Storm disaster fuels doubts over US terror plans
Which raises an interesting point. Katrina was known to be headed into New Orleans a few days in advance, and the potential damage was known and understood years ahead of time. Yet this "unexpected" event threw the US Government into total confusion. In contrast, the aftermath of 9-11 seemed quite well coordinated, which strongly suggests that 9-11 was not "unexpected" at all, especially when one considers that all the various players, including FEMA, were already in position for a "terror drill" the day before it happened.
Spared from catastrophe
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usnola0830,0,2629774.story?coll=ny-main-breakingnewslinks
It could have been worse for New Orleans as storm weakens as it reaches shore, with minimal loss of life.
Death toll could be above 10,000
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050902/pl_afp/usweatherdeaths&printer=1
Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, also called for the immediate deployment of regular US combat troops in New Orleans, saying the build-up of National Guard troops was too slow to quickly restore order. Vitter, speaking to reporters at the emergency response center in Baton Rouge, also said he gave the federal government a grade 'F' for its response to the disaster so far.
World stunned as US struggles with Katrina
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/02/MTFH62797_2005-09-02_14-16-45_BAU248384.html
The world has watched amazed as the planet's only superpower struggles with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with some saying the chaos has exposed flaws and deep divisions in American society.
NEW ORLEANS — A 2-year-old girl slept in a pool of urine. Crack vials littered a restroom. Blood stained the walls next to vending machines smashed by teenagers.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-superdome1sep01,0,4489032.story?coll=la-home-headlines
"We pee on the floor. We are like animals," said Taffany Smith, 25, as she cradled her 3-week-old son, Terry. In her right hand she carried a half-full bottle of formula provided by rescuers. Baby supplies are running low; one mother said she was given two diapers and told to scrape them off when they got dirty and use them again.
Conditions 'disgusting' at flooded hospital
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/09/02/katrina.hospitals/index.html
Patient evacuations to resume, but sniper fears remain
Second Navy Hospital Ship Will Head to Gulf Coast
Will arrive in three weeks.
Bush Says Relief Results 'Not Acceptable'
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/02/D8CC53POL.html
Bush hoped that his tour of the hurricane-ravaged states would boost the spirits of increasingly desperate storm victims and their tired rescuers, and his visit was aimed at tamping down the ever-angrier criticism that he has engineered a too-little, too-late response.
George W. Bush abandons Americans
How is it possible that in a country which is always blowing its horn about how advanced it is, that people are starving to death? Is this Somalia? No, it is George Bush's United States of America.
And now that the President has been injected with the mad array of chemicals that are needed to jump start his brain like the coughing, oil-leaking lawnmower motor that it is, he declares that "The results [of the relief effort] are not acceptable." And that's great, but they were also unacceptable on Tuesday, when Bush was making one of his worthless piece of shit speeches about how mighty a battle the Iraq War is, just like World War II or some such nonsense. But the Bush adminstration has broken the basic social contract in New Orleans, the one that goes all the way back to Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, the one that says we adhere to laws because you agree to protect us, and thus the city and its citizens have returned to the state of nature, which is to survive, motherfuckers, just survive.Bush is visiting the affected areas as this is written. You can bet he's gonna hug some negro, maybe two, maybe he'll feed a negro child. It's the way of black people in New Orleans, you know, to always be the props and the set dressing to make the white people feel powerful.
Officials Struggle to Reverse a Growing Sense of Anarchy
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/national/nationalspecial/01cnd-storm.html?ei=5065&en=bf6ce6fb2ad820f8&ex=1126238400&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
Numerous people in distress complained to journalists that they felt abandoned by a government that seemed to manage to deliver timely supplies to disaster victims overseas but that somehow was unable to do the same in a major American city.
OCCUPIED BAGHDAD, New Iraq, May 13, [2003] — United States military forces in Iraq will have the authority to shoot looters on sight under a tough new security setup that will include hiring more police officers and banning ranking members of the Baath Party from public service, American officials said today. http://maxblumenthal.blogspot.com/2005/09/things-are-starting-to-look-familiar.html Asked what this meant, the official replied, "They are going to start shooting a few looters so that the word gets around" that assaults on property, the hijacking of automobiles and violent crimes will be dealt with using deadly force.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/New-Orleans-descends-into-anarchy/2005/09/02/1125302712368.html
Bodies rotted away on busy streets, gunmen opened fire on troops and rescue workers, and seriously ill people braved the floodwaters in wheelchairs to search for help. Officials said the death toll was certainly in the hundreds and probably in the thousands, but details remained sketchy.
Bush tells looters, "Bring it on!"
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16466171-23109,00.html
Bush also defended his own decision to wait until yesterday to return to Washington and cut short by a couple of days a four-week working holiday at his Texas ranch. The hurricane and its aftermath have handed Bush his greatest emergency since the September 11, 2001, attacks. They come as he struggles with the Iraq war, a leading reason his public approval ratings have dropped to among the lowest of his presidency.
Explosions Rock New Orleans
http://www.wben.com/newsroom/fullstory.php?newsid=03648
Bush is to visit the hurricane zone today - first Mississippi and Alabama, and then New Orleans, where the situation continues to grow more desperate, with police reporting some refugees being raped and beaten.
Chemical depot explodes in New Orleans
http://startribune.com/stories/125/5593021.html
An explosion at a chemical depot jolted residents awake early Friday, illuminating the pre-dawn sky with red and orange flames over a city awash in corpses and under siege from looters. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Residents here had awakened Friday to another harrowing day, starting with a spectacular looking fire accompanied by explosions in a riverfront chemical depot a few miles south of the French Quarter that sent huge plumes of smoke billowing across the city. The fire prompted rumors and speculation of a toxic cloud that turned out to be unfounded.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090200670.html
Walter Maestri, head of emergency management for Jefferson Parish, came on talk radio four hours after the explosions to reassure citizens that "it was not the major incident we thought it was." A second fire of unknown origin broke out about 10 a.m. EDT in downtown New Orleans.
"About 100 people have died at the Chalmette Slip afterbeing pulled off their rooftops, waiting to be ferriedup the river to the West Bank and bused out of theflood ravaged area, U.S. Rep. Charles Melancon,D-Napoleonville, said Thursday."
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001053068
About 1,500 people were at the slip on Thursdayafternoon, where critical supplies like food and waterare scarce, he said. Melancon expressed seriousfrustration with the slow pace of getting these itemsto the people waiting to finish their journey tosafety.
On Thursday, at the Convention Center, corpses lay abandoned outside the building, and many storm refugees complained bitterly that they had been forsaken by the government. And at the Superdome, fights and fires broke out and storm victims battled for seats on the buses taking them to the Houston Astrodome.
http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news?e=pri&dt=050902&cat=news&st=newsd8cc8vn00&src=ap
City officials have accused the government _ namely the Federal Emergency Management Agency _ of responding sluggishly. "Get off your asses and let's do something," the mayor told WWL-AM Thursday night in a rambling interview in which he cursed, yelled and ultimately burst into tears. At one point he said: "Excuse my French _ everybody in America _ but I am pissed."
I've gotta tell you, I thought I'd seen it all, but just when you think you've seen it all, you go into another situation and you see something horrific. I've never seen anything in my life like this. ... I can't put it into words the amount of destruction that is in this city and how these people are coping. They are just left behind. There is nothing offered to them. No water, no ice, no C-rations, nothing, for the last four days.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9160710/
I went back with Harry Connick Jr. He spoke to them and told them he would do anything he can to help them. They seemed to appreciate that. He's the only person of authority - believe it or not, a musician -- to go in there and tell them that things are going to be ok.
At the front of the line, the weary refugees waded through ankle-deep water, grabbed a bottle of water from state troopers and happily hopped on buses that would deliver them from the horrendous conditions of the Superdome.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/01/D8CBPBCG0.html
At the back end of the line, people jammed against police barricades in the rain. Refugees passed out and had to be lifted hand-over-hand overhead to medics. Pets were not allowed on the bus, and when a police officer confiscated a little boy's dog, the child cried until he vomited. "Snowball, snowball," he cried.
"You can do everything for other countries, but you can't do nothing for your own people," he added. "You can go overseas with the military, but you can't get them down here." New Orleans' top emergency management official called the Bush/FEMA effort a "national disgrace" and questioned when reinforcements would actually reach the increasingly lawless city
Bush administration funding cuts forced federal engineers to delay improvements on the levees, floodgates and pumping stations that failed to protect New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters, agency documents showed on Thursday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050901/pl_nm/weather_katrina_funding_dc
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the administration had funded flood control efforts adequately. Tensions over funding for the New Orleans levees emerged more than a year ago when a local official asserted money had been diverted to pay for the Iraq war. In early 2002, Parker told the U.S. Congress that the war on terrorism required spending cuts elsewhere in government.
At every turn, political leaders failed Katrina's victims. They didn't strengthen the levees. They ceded the streets to marauding looters. They left dead bodies to rot or bloat. Thousands suffered or died for lack of water, food and hope. Who's at fault?
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050901/D8CBNMA88.html
There's plenty of blame to go around - the White House, Congress, federal agencies, local governments, police and even residents of the Gulf Coast who refused orders to evacuate. But all the finger-pointing misses the point: Politicians and the people they lead too often ignore danger signs until a crisis hits.
Budget cuts delayed New Orleans flood control work
Bush administration funding cuts forced federal engineers to delay improvements on the levees, floodgates and pumping stations that failed to protect New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters, agency documents showed on Thursday.
When you hear the administration in days to come say that this was an "unforseeable" event, and you will, remember this little propaganda-for-ANWAR puff piece released by FX movies at the beginning of the summer.
http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/oilstorm/main.html
WRH: Bush is waving "unforseeable" to justify his cutting 44% of the funding needed to maintain New Orleans' flood control system.
FLASHBACK: New Orleans faces doomsday scenario
This article from 2001 makes it clear that the problems with New Orleans' flood control were known well in advance. But Bush cut the funding for flood control in order to spend the money on his illegal war in Iraq, and of course, to send to Israel.
20 oil rigs missing in Gulf of Mexico: US Coast Guard
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050831/pl_afp/usweatheroilgulfrigs_050831213716
Over 91 percent of normal daily crude oil production in the Gulf -- 1.5 million barrels -- is now shut down, and more than 83 percent of natural gas production, the MMS said.
Oil spilling into Mississippi below New Orleans
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9175553/
Officials spot huge spill near tanks with 2 million barrel capacity
Airlines Cancel More Flights, Prepare for Possible Fuel Shortages
So here's the issue about 9/11 in a nutshell that no one ever held Rice and Bush accountable for. They did nothing to prevent terrorist hijackings, even though they were warned about them prior to September 11th. If they had successfully tried to prevent hijackings, they would have prevented the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center buildings. It is that simple, because they were hijackings too. But they did nothing, nothing at all. http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/05/09/edi05062.html
And now again, we had Bush on vacation, as if he was just an observer, like we are, to a disaster about which he took no action to remedy or prevent the worst case scenario. In fact, he cut funding for protecting the people of New Orleans, and then, even though warned about Hurricane Katrina, did nothing to prepare for dealing with the aftermath of saving lives. Countless people have died not only from the storm, but from negligence in helping them in the aftermath of the storm.
Hurricane Katrina wiped out Camp Casey, and that could be a good or a bad thing depending on your point of view. The storm diverted attention from Cindy Sheehan’s anti-war protest in Crawford, Texas, and caused President Bush to ditch his vacation and high-tail it back to Washington, where, reports say, Sheehan will follow.
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=36&url_article_id=5855&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2
Veteran TV news anchor and author Bill O’Reilly is a host on Fox News. His column appears on Friday.
¶ 2.9.05
