Posted on 09/03/2005 8:04:59 AM PDT by Carl/NewsMax
New Orleans Police Chief Edwin Compass said Friday that hurricane rescue efforts were hampered when relief workers came under attack by the city's criminal element, prompting conditions that resembled "urban warfare."
"We have never had an urban warfare battle like this on any front in the history of our nation," Compass told NBC's "Dateline."
"You're fighting in buildings that are pitch black with darkness. These individuals have root - the criminal element have looted all the gun shops and gun stores in this city, so they're armed, they're dangerous."
Federal Emergency Management Agency Chief Michael Brown, under fire for his agency's slow response, echoed Chief Compass's complaint, telling CNN: "We are working under conditions of urban warfare."
Though the city's crime rate is ten times the national average, U.S. news outlets downplayed the connection between New Orleans' outsized criminal element and delays in rescue efforts.
Saturday's London Times, however, painted a bleak picture of the challenges faced by local police as they tried to restore order.
"One New Orleans police officer wept as he described seeing bodies riddled with bullets, and the top of one man's head shot off. He said some looters were armed with AK-47 rifles, and compared the situation with Somalia, with police outnumbered and outgunned by gangs in trucks . . .
"An effort to remove patients and staff from Charity Hospital, in the city centre, was suspended after it came under sniper fire . . .
"'It's a war-zone, and they're not treating it like one,' he said, referring to the federal government . . . Gunmen continued to fire on troops and rescue helicopters, and police officials said that many officers had stopped reporting for duty, cutting manpower by 20 per cent."
I betcha it's those 80 year old white grannies in wheelchairs causing the trouble.
It's a part of Blue Nation.
Something is missing in the MSM coverage (no surprise) - there is an endgame which is either yet to be played out or is just not being talked about.
I would count on it.
Yeah. Fraid so.
I've not heard much about conditions inside the Convention Center. Only that the police force was "beaten back" and that there were thousands of visitors there.
What is happening to the out of town women?
Who would beat back the police?
I think my imagination has the answer but it is too horrible to say...
Even our local news media is downplaying the thug violence down there.
I have utmost respect for those who left before, during and after the hurricane under their own devices. Several are finally taking the notion of WALKING down the hiway! Finally!
And for all those sittin around waitin for an air conditioned bus with a toilet-forget em.
I suspect the a getting a hot meal in Houston as we speak....
I have heard almost everyone interviewed today saying they never plan on going back ....
There could be 2 million people displaced by this... This could affect elections for decades.
...and happily riding a bus to a nice, quiet community near you...
This supposition will be used by disarmament proponents as grounds to further restrict gun sales and private firearm ownership.
"Federal Emergency Management Agency Chief Michael Brown, under fire for his agency's slow response, echoed Chief Compass's complaint, telling CNN: "We are working under conditions of urban warfare."
Though the city's crime rate is ten times the national average, U.S. news outlets downplayed the connection between New Orleans' outsized criminal element and delays in rescue efforts"
That's right. Throw up your hands.
Maybe if Chief Compass and the Mayor had been doing their jobs prior to the hurricane, they would been able to prevent this "urban warfare" situation.
It seems to me, that this should be a very lesson to people all over the country when they head for the polls to vote for their mayor and/or governor next time around.
Vote for the one who seems the most experienced and competent. The one who could really lead in a crisis. Not the best looking or the one who seems to be the most 'caring' or with the nicest smile.
If that won't suffice... how about Karl Rove or Condi Rice? Both have been snidely criticized for NO already.
You know the race-card they're playing in NO will be used when Roberts confirmation hearing begins. They're going to try to smear Roberts as a racist.
The MSM/DNC cabal is shameless and will stop at nothing to destroy this nation!
It's gotta be that, of course.
Couldn't possibly have anything to do with the abysmal lunacy that is "non-profiling."
Nah.
Let me get this straight. The chief of the New Orleans police blames the federal government for letting the situation get out of hand?
No, buddy. The responsibility is yours. And the Mayor's. And then the Governor's.
The proper role of the Mayor is to enforce order in his city. And the proper role of the Governor is to back up local law enforcement if necessary. And the proper role of the President is to back up the Governor. Local law enforcement knows the city best, and knows where the guns shops are where weapons should be safeguarded before they are all stolen.
Since the feds came in in force, the situation has evidently improved. But the breakdown of law and order in the early days, and the looting of guns from markets, was due entirely to the failure of local law enforcement. The police were badly led and incompetent, and the Mayor bugged out of town at the first opportunity, leaving the refugees to fend for themselves.
But they are all eager to blame the problem on Bush, and of course the media are eager to help them.
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