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LA National Guard: 'Combat Operations Are Underway'

By Jeralyn, Section Huricanes Katrina and Rita
Posted on Sat Sep 03, 2005 at 10:28:22 AM EST
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This is not the response from the National Guard I was hoping for. From the Army Times:

Combat operations are underway on the streets “to take this city back” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. “This place is going to look like Little Somalia,” Brig. Gen. Gary Jones, commander of the Louisiana National Guard’s Joint Task Force told Army Times Friday as hundreds of armed troops under his charge prepared to launch a massive citywide security mission from a staging area outside the Louisiana Superdome. “We’re going to go out and take this city back. This will be a combat operation to get this city under control.”

< Feds Ignore Help Offers From Chicago's Mayor | Political Ramifications of Katrina >

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    LA National Guard: 'Combat Operations Are Underway' | 12 comments (12 topical)
    Re: LA National Guard: 'Combat Operations Are Unde (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:08 PM EST
    Yesterday, from National Review's "The Corner," an email to Jonah Goldberg from a reader about Charleston PD Chief Greenberg: "It's interesting that no one has yet remarked on the behavior of recently-retired Charleston police Chief Reuben Greenberg during Hurricane Hugo in 1989... He was able to get on the horn to his lieutenants around town with the order: "Don't arrest [looters]; beat them. We don't have any place for them in our jails." I credit the attitude espoused in those lines - a refusal, even in the eye of the storm - to tolerate lawlessness, with the subsequent quality of the response... Though the entire response in the Charleston area was phenomenal, Chief Greenberg and Mayor Joe Riley were phenomenally strong that horrible night... Their response was pure Giuliani - before there was a Giuliani."

    Re: LA National Guard: 'Combat Operations Are Unde (none / 0) (#2)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:09 PM EST
    New Orleans rocked by huge blasts BBC News | September 2, 2005 The New Orleans riverfront has been hit by a series of massive blasts, and fires are raging in the area. But the blast is believed to have involved a chemical factory and police have sent a team to see if toxic fumes have been released. The news came as extra troops were sent to quell lawlessness in the city, where thousands are stranded without food or water in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath... The city of New Orleans will never be the same again. ...Mayor Ray Nagin New Orleans rocked by huge blasts

    Re: LA National Guard: 'Combat Operations Are Unde (none / 0) (#3)
    by pigwiggle on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:09 PM EST
    Mayor Negin seems to thing the bulk of the roving lunatics with guns are the cities drug addicts flipping out. I’m more inclined to think it’s the folks that deserve credit for securing New Orleans the distinction of a homicide rate a full order of magnitude greater than the national average. If it’s the former, airdrops of smack should calm things; if it’s the latter, the National Guard has their hands full. This should give you an idea of how violence hardened the folks of New Orleans are. Last month police citywide fired over 700 blank rounds in the most crime-infested parts of the city; not one was reported.

    Re: LA National Guard: 'Combat Operations Are Unde (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:09 PM EST
    You say: "This is not the response from the National Guard I was hoping for." What do you expect? Unarmed volunteers pleading with armed thugs to stop shooting and raping and pillaging?

    Re: LA National Guard: 'Combat Operations Are Unde (none / 0) (#5)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:09 PM EST
    PIG-sounds like you think that what we are seeing now are the finishing touches after god's miracle cleansing hurricane Compassionate conservatism unveiled. Natural selection with a touch of intelligent design.

    Re: LA National Guard: 'Combat Operations Are Unde (none / 0) (#6)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:09 PM EST
    airdrops of smack should calm things
    I'm sure the CIA is right on it. Good thing we wrested the poppy fields from the Taliban.

    Re: LA National Guard: 'Combat Operations Are Unde (none / 0) (#7)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:09 PM EST
    “This place is going to look like Little Somalia,” Brig. Gen. Gary Jones
    "Umm...except for the part where our troops got dragged through the streets, hopefully" Jones added quickly.

    Re: LA National Guard: 'Combat Operations Are Unde (none / 0) (#8)
    by Quaker in a Basement on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:09 PM EST
    The man in charge of the Natl Guard troops, Lt. Genl. Russel Honore, seems to have things in proper perspective. According to CNN, he's stopping truckloads of troops and telling them to point their weapons down, not up, reminding them, "This isn't Iraq."

    Re: LA National Guard: 'Combat Operations Are Unde (none / 0) (#9)
    by Al on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:09 PM EST
    As Boing-Boing points out, an article on the Army Times web page calls the people in New Orleans the "insurgency".

    Re: LA National Guard: 'Combat Operations Are Unde (none / 0) (#10)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:10 PM EST
    et al - Read the very first post about the rapes and murders, and then read this post. And then tell me the NG doesn't have a real problem. Combat operations would probably be a snap compared to this.

    Re: LA National Guard: 'Combat Operations Are Unde (none / 0) (#11)
    by Al on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:10 PM EST
    PPJ, I just did read the article, and it seems the troops shot dead a guy who had heard the screams of a girl who was being raped and was trying to get them to help. Subsequently, a crowd lynched the rapist. So the combat-ready troops not only did not do anything to solve the problem, but they compounded it by killing an innocent man. No one is more blind than the person who doesn't want to see, Jim.

    Re: LA National Guard: 'Combat Operations Are Unde (none / 0) (#12)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:10 PM EST
    I just did read the article, and it seems the troops shot dead a guy who had heard the screams of a girl who was being raped and was trying to get them to help
    He has no intention of seeing, Al... he's just baiting you...

    LA National Guard: 'Combat Operations Are Underway' | 12 comments (12 topical)