Jump to content

Looting in New Orleans


Accounting Troll

Recommended Posts

https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4205074.stm

 

This is something that makes me really angry. I don't have a problem with people stealing what they need to survive, but some of the looters in New Orleans are just stealing anything they can find. They are even disrupting the rescue and relief operations - at least one rescue helicopter has been fired on. Police and National Guard personnel have been diverted from rescue work to try to tackle these disgusting parasites.

 

People like that are utter scum as far as I'm concerned. They are risking the lives of the other survivors just because they want to do a spot of freebooting before normality returns to the city.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, I see your point. You have to put stuff down to get the gun out and fire it. Very counterproductive :angry:

 

On the serious side though, have these guys been watching too many films? Or better yet too many episodes of "World's Wildest Police Videos" with the occasional episode depicting a riot in some far flung country?

 

Do they seem to think that with the amount of rescue helicopters flying over with cameras on that they'll even get away with it? Morons!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Law enforcement is not easy at the best of times. Under conditions of natural disaster and civil unrest, it's damn near impossible. They're struggling to feed and house however many thousands of refugees. Stopping some fools stealing this and that is way down the list of priorities.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's even worse than the Baghdad lootings... that's not the end of it too... rape, murder, fighting the police...

 

I don't know why they don't just mobilise a whole National Guard division and crush the unrest.

I gather that about a third of the National Guard for Louisiana (and most other states) are currently serving in Iraq, and they cannot easily be recalled. They are the most experienced members of the National Guard and they have the best equipment.

 

As it is, the police and the army have been told that stopping the looters has priority over rescue efforts because the looters are interfering with the rescue services. There are rumours of hospitals being targeted by armed gangs looking for drugs.

 

And as if things weren't bad enough for the people trapped in New Orleans, there has been a massive explosion in a chemical factory :angry:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read on michaelmoore.com that the head of FEMA is blaming the people trapped in New Orleans for not evacuating when the warning was given. He also thinks that relief efforts are going well.

 

The BBC correspondents in the area have pointed out that the people who stayed behind were all either too poor or too infirm to leave, and they are dying right now from dehydration and disease. The BBC Ceefax service has also said that Britain has offered the US humanitarian aid, only for it to be turned down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Indeed... they also have a habit of only doing things once it's too late.

 

9/11 - Various warnings of attacks - after the event "Oh s*** the twin towers have been blown up, we'd better beef up security"

Space Shuttle - Challenger "Those O rings are a problem" - after the event "Oh s*** chalenger blew up, we'd better do something about the O rings"

Invasion of Iraq - "How are we going to keep the peace after we win?" - after they won "Oh s*** we won the war! what do we do now?"

 

and now the levies in New Orleans. They had various reports that the levies needed a lot of work to be effective against even a fairly calm storm but they did very little about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apparently Bush refused to spend the money to strengthen the levies because of the cost of the Iraq War, which he has repeatedly said he is fighting to make Americans safe :mad:

 

Since the American oil industry has been hurt, I'm pretty sure that there are going to be some massive boosts to the flood defences before next years hurricane season starts. The priority will be to protect the commercial and industrial districts, and not the impoverished people living in the slums. Remember that you heard it off me first :angry:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found a link to this story at michaelmoore.com.

 

Basically, hundreds of airboat owners in Florida want to help out. They have brought supplies with their own money and they want to evacuate some of the survivors. But FEMA have refused permission for them to enter the city because of the danger from the looters.

 

I don't know what's worse about this - the pathetic response from the authorities or the determination of the looters to prolong the suffering of the other people trapped in the city.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This just gets better and better. I'm quite sure the NOPD or some local sheriff's office could deputise those people, or some federal agency could take them under their wing, legitimising their assitance and making sure no one started pouting and sued if they got hurt.

The government's response has obviously not been sufficient. Refusing help isn't going to improve matters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
  • Create New...