FOX News reporter Major Garrett was on the Laura Ingraham radio show this morning, where he gave a good summary of reporting he did on Wednesday night about the response to hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
HUME: But look, I mean, they're down there. The Red Cross, for example, is there.
GARRETT: Standing by, ready.
HUME: Standing by, ready. Why didn't FEMA send the Red Cross into New Orleans when we had all of those people there on that bridge overpass and elsewhere?
GARRETT: At the Superdome, at the convention center...
HUME: Lack of water, right. Why not?
GARRETT: First of all, no jurisdiction. FEMA works with the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and other organizations, but it has no direct control to order them to go one place or the other.
Secondarily, the Red Cross was ready. I just got off the phone with one of their officials. They had a vanguard, Brit, of trucks with water, food, hygiene equipment, all sorts of things ready to go, where? To the Superdome and the convention center.
Why weren't they there? The Louisiana Department of Homeland Security told them they could not go.
HUME: Now, this is the Louisiana -- this isn't the Louisiana branch of the federal Homeland Security? This is...
GARRETT: The state's own agency devoted to the state's homeland security. They told them, "You cannot go there."
Why? The Red Cross tells me that state agency in Louisiana said, "Look, we do not want to create a magnet for more to come to the Superdome or the convention center. We want to get them out."
So at the same time local officials were screaming, "Where is the food? Where is the water?" The Red Cross was standing by ready. The Louisiana Department of Homeland Security said, "You can't go."
This is truly explosive stuff, given the mostly uniform reporting that's been done for the last two weeks about the hurricane response. It totally changes the entire narrative that has become the conventional wisdom throughout the MSM.
All the reporting up to this point has dwelled on the federal role, especially of the president - the response was way too slow, the president is a failure, the FEMA director is a failure, Republicans were purposely slow to respond because they hate black people, etc.
But this report by Garrett sweeps almost all of that away. The Red Cross and Salvation Army were there, from the beginning. They had food, water, and other supplies ready to go as the hurricane hit. From an American Red Cross press release Monday, August 29th:
More than 200 emergency response vehicles (ERVs) and countless other Red Cross resources are en route or on the scene to provide hot meals, snacks, bottled water and distribute other much-needed relief supplies. In coordination with the Southern Baptists, preparations have been made to provide more than 500,000 hot meals to storm-weary residents each day.
Louisiana state officials, not "racist Republicans," denied them access.
It will be very interesting to see if/how other news outlets respond to this reporting. Will they adapt their stories? Or will they continue with the narrative they've already developed? We'll keep an eye out.
More from Captain's Quarters and Winds of Change.
Update: A quick perusal of the leftwing blogosphere shows nothing but the same dishonesty, drivel, and bile as usual. Par for the course.
[...] We noted earlier the actions of the governor in blocking aid that was potentially available to victims in the early hours of the crisis. The truth needs to get out; the conventional wisdom is wrong. For many on the left, job one is to damage the president politically. All else - helping victims, fixing real deficiencies in the response, telling the truth - is secondary. posted by: The Editors @ 9:30 am September 11, 2005 [...]
Pingback by The Unalienable Right » Katrina and Democratic Blame-shifting — September 11, 2005 @ 9:36 am September 11, 2005
NEW ORLEANS UNDER OCCUPATION: An Empire Without Pumps
FARHAT MAQUAMI
Dick Cheney Declared the occupation as an “Enormous Success” as the city rots under toxic water that the occupation force fails to pump out. It is Baghdad all over again!
FARHAT MAQUAMI
Why the news media does not pay attention to the fact that the Administration did not want to save New Orleans otherwise it would have got the pumps working rather than making it a city under siege. Why right from the beginning the Bush administration treat the New Orleans like an enemy to be conquered? A territory to be "secured"? Bush administration went after New Orleans as if it is Somalia or Iraq. They went with Maximum force of armed troops with shot kill order and instead of food the helpless citizens were faced with armed counter-insurgency units as if they were Taliban. That is why the water changed to sewage and raw sewage mixed with decomposing bodies and household toxic materials transformed into poisonous black contaminated toxic stew that resembles WMD.
They did not go with experience firemen, Water Department, Phone company and Cable company experts that are specialist with giant truck mounted pumps that suck everything out of the ground. They are the flooding specialists. The Bush administration betrayed the well behaved civilian population of New Orleans and did not mobilize neither a vast contingent of fire trucks to pump the water nor installing mobile pumps to suck the water and save the city. Instead, even today only four of the cities 24 pumps are working and the rest are sitting idle waiting to be repaired, while the city is rotting under the toxic water. Why an Empire does not have pumps to drain and save the city?
Neo-Cons went to secure and pacify the city and not to save it. The sick mentality of the Bush administration made New Orleans an Occupied Territory”! Brig. Gen. Gary Jones, Commander of the Louisiana National Guard’s Joint Task Force told the Army Times last Friday :
“This place is going to look like Little Somalia,” as hundreds of armed troops under his charge prepared to launch a massive attack to regain the city! They found only dead bodies and helpless people that private agencies and good Samaritans were trying to help. No rebels, no massive gangs looting the houses! Except what normally happens in any major cities in the USA.
It is clear right from the beginning this was not a campaign to save the city and its citizens, otherwise FEMA would have got the pumps working. Or, they would have come with hundreds of fire trucks! No wonder they uprooted the proud people of New Orleans and changed them into refugees in their own land, just to occupy the city. Why they did this out of ignorance, stupidity, disorganization, or they acting according to the State Department hand book written by Pascual, the head of the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, in 2004. Simply put how destroy and where to destroy to in order to get money for Reconstruction, Make money out of bringing misery to other human beings. This is evil but it is true!
Republicans might still pull a fast one and bring a reversal of misfortunes for their failed policies. They might reverse what is a total failure of leadership to an enormous success of Disaster Capitalism. Look how they declared the sophisticated implosion and "pulling down" the WTC buildings in 911 as the work of Muslims who did not utter Allah's name once. even at the time of death. Then, they impeded a real investigation on how the buildings fell because of implosion. and then successfully destroyed the crime scene and shipped all materials with trace of explosive materials to China. The only version that they promoted and discussed is their baseless official version that Middle Eastern Muslim attacked the US.
They pulled off another fast one in Iraq and called it failure of intelligence and fooled the world and are still kicking. Now they are acting according to Pascual's text book who heads the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization. Its mandate is to draw up an elaborate "post-conflict" plans, whether it is the Act of God or Act of Bush! To profit from rebuilding what one deliberately destroys!
In January Condoleezza Rice described the Tsunami as "a wonderful opportunity" that "has paid great dividends for us." Many were horrified at that statement and no-one would mention it now!! Now Cheney declares Bush’s failure of leadership as an “Enormous Success”! and who knows when Bush would declare “Mission Accomplished”, since the city without its citizens is finally “secured“, which means fully occupied!
FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP, CHAOTIC CHAIN OF COMMAND
After 911 Homeland Security Department was empowered to federalize a disaster when the Mayor of New Orleans failed to use his 400 buses to evacuate the defenseless citizens. It failed to act. After ten days they have not repaired or blocked the breaches in the two remaining levees. We are ten days after the disaster and it seems that nobody in charge. How this could have happened in America?
Over one hundred thousands of people did not have cars. The mayor did not organize the buses to help his helpless citizens. Now the same mayor who betrayed those who elected him is issuing order and is intimidating residents to evacuate the city. The Mayor still passes ordinances and is forcing people to leave their houses. Even at this moment all helps comes from wonderful people not the government. More than 60,000 of armed forces are going house to house in combat fatigue to secure the area as if it is a combat zone and the citizens are the enemy, who must be pacified.
Political blame should fell squarely on the chain of command. People wanted to leave . Those who could run listened to the Mayor request to go to convention center which proved to be a hoax . Four hundred of city buses were stranded because of cities lack of planning, panic and disorganization. The city officials, FEMA and Department of Homeland Security are first to blame for the Chaos
The difference between those who lived and those who died was race and poverty. If this has happened in a white middle class community it would not gone the same way. The media exaggerated and lied about honorable citizens of New Orleans. Most stories of rape, riots, break-ins was and disorderly conducts was our right lies and came out of the racist imagination. The racist media described the honorable citizens of New Orleans as “uncivilized” , gangsters, violent murderers who are shooting people at random to steal their property. As we know now all racist commentators were wrong. The only crime that happened in New Orleans was dereliction of duty by public officials. They are the ones who must be held accountable for the state of despair of Levees, lack of preparation for the up-coming storm, and failure to protect the security life, and welfare of its citizens. This is a white color-crime and criminals must be put in trials.
The question is why when the dry lands in New Orleans is completely secured the mayor and chaotic chain of command is forcing people to evacuate the city. No News organization has questioned the fact why the government started with the propaganda that there is riot and gangs of disorderly hoodlums have taken the law in their hand. Except a few exception non was true. Then why this city is being treated like an occupied Baghdad and more than 60,000 uniformed officers and even contractors from Bechtel are trying to “secure” it. Why instead of helping people to stay ad help themselves, rebuild their community and take care of their property they are treating them as refugees who should be air lifted , as if they are in war zone.
Why this War Zone mentality and why there was no FEMA truck in town to help people even after 10 days?
Why no one question the Bush administration that it is the privatization of FEMA which put it in disarray not the hurricane? Why no-one questions the fact that there might be a conspiracy to get every body out of town and exaggerate the damage, refuse to start he pumps so all houses to be condemned, then come with billions of dollars to be contracted to Bechtel, and other Corporations to secure, let it be destroyed and then rebuild the city. For the bush administration it a simple case of Disaster Capitalism, making profit out of disaster and misery of others.
Comment by farhat quam maquami — September 11, 2005 @ 11:46 pm September 11, 2005
[...] But this is just another finger-pointing story about how the paperwork was handled within the agency. As we noted several days ago, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army were on the ground in New Orleans from day one, ready to help with food, water, and other supplies. The state and local officials in Louisiana wouldn’t allow those organizations access. This is infinitely more important than what the org chart in Washington says. [...]
Pingback by The Unalienable Right » Brownie’s gone, now let’s get Chertoff — September 14, 2005 @ 11:58 am September 14, 2005
[...] But as we noted days ago, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army were on scene right after hurricane Katrina hit, with water, food, and other supplies, but local and state officials would not allow them in. So the lack of ice and water in the early days after the hurricane is not attributable to a slow response by FEMA. Perhaps someone at MSNBC should go take a look at the American Red Cross website. Access to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders. [...]
Pingback by The Unalienable Right » “The Feds were slow” - the meme that wouldn’t die — September 17, 2005 @ 2:53 pm September 17, 2005