Abracadabrah

I create as I speak

Read It To Believe It

Unbelievable story. This story has to be read to be believed. The Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security was the one that was blocking the pre-positioned supplies of the Red Cross for all those days.

Here's Major Garrett reporting on the issue to Hugh Hewitt:

MG: Well, the Red Cross, Hugh, had pre-positioned a literal vanguard of trucks with water, food, blankets and hygiene items. They're not really big into medical response items, but those are the three biggies that we saw people at the New Orleans Superdom, and the convention center, needing most accutely. And all of us in America, I think, reasonably asked ourselves, geez. You know, I watch hurricanes all the time. And I see correspondents standing among rubble and refugees and evacuaees. But I always either see that Red Cross or Salvation Army truck nearby. Why don't I see that?

HH: And the answer is?

MG: The answer is the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security, that is the state agency responsible for that state's homeland security, told the Red Cross explicitly, you cannot come.

HH: Now Major Garrett, on what day did they block the delivery? Do you know specifically?

MG: I am told by the Red Cross, immediately after the storm passed.

HH: Okay, so that would be on Monday afternoon.

MG: That would have been Monday or Tuesday. The exact time, the hour, I don't have. But clearly, they had an evacuee situation at the Superdome, and of course, people gravitated to the convention center on an ad hoc basis. They sort of invented that as another place to go, because they couldn't stand the conditions at the Superdome.

HH: Any doubt in the Red Cross' mind that they were ready to go, but they were blocked?

MG: No. Absolutely none. They are absolutely unequivocal on that point.

HH: And are they eager to get this story out there, because they are chagrined by the coverage that's been emanating from New Orleans?

MG: I think they are. I mean, and look. Every agency that is in the private sector, Salvation Army, Red Cross, Feed The Children, all the ones we typically see are aggrieved by all the crap that's being thrown around about the response to this hurricane, because they work hand and glove with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. When FEMA is tarred and feathered, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army are tarred and feathered, because they work on a cooperative basis. They feel they are being sullied by this reaction.

HH: Of course they are. Now Major Garrett, what about the Louisiana governor's office of Homeland Security. Have they responded to this charge by the Red Cross, which is a blockbuster charge?

MG: I have not been able to reach them yet. But, what they have said consistently is, and what they told the Red Cross, we don't want you to come in there, because we have evacuees that we want to get out. And if you come in, they're more likely to stay. So I want your listeners to follow me here. At the very moment that Ray Nagin, the Mayor of New Orleans was screaming where's the food, where's the water, it was over the overpass, and state officials were saying you can't come in.

In this case, it's important to read the whole thing.

After this immediate crisis is over, I have a feeling people are going to be, rightfully, demanding the Governor's head. She ought to resign very soon, but she doesn't seem to have the brains. Consider this: She's still obstructing the Mayor's effort to evacuate the city completely at this moment.

The Governor was also the one to order the National Guard not to have suitable weaponry in the SuperDome in order to provide Law and Order. So that when chaos broke out, they were helpless.

Glenn Reynold's, with his normal understatement, comments that, "Apparently they wanted people hungry, thirsty, and anxious to leave." He also provides a link to a video of the Brit Hume story covering the same thing.

And here's the Red Cross website confirming the story as to why it has no presence in New Orleans.

UPDATE: Paul from Wizbang, who spent 4 days during Katrina and the aftermath, trapped in a Hotel in Metairie, comments on the case against Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco:

Governor Blanco's administration ensured that there was no (or minimal) state presence in New Orleans; no food, medicine, or other need supplies for hurricane victims; and that vital repairs to the city's police scanners could not be completed. All of which would lead one to only one natural conclusion:

It's all Bush's fault...

posted by Alcibiades @ 10:44 PM