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New Orleans Today: Wreckage and Bloated Bodies

By Jeralyn, Section Huricanes Katrina and Rita
Posted on Sun Sep 11, 2005 at 11:26:01 PM EST
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As President Bush begins his third tour of the Gulf Coast, here's what the rescue workers around him are seeing in New Orleans - a view of which he undoubtedly will be spared:

Police, troops and rescue crews in New Orleans pursued their round-the-clock mission of fishing out rotting corpses and pressing lingering survivors to leave their homes....A National Guard unit patrolled one neighbourhood, trying to persuade the old and infirm to abandon their homes, as nearly half a million others have done, and were inevitably stumbling across decomposing bodies in the streets.

"It ain't a pretty sight," said Sergeant James Terrel as his men went house to house. "I don't recommend walking down there. Even a lot of my guys don't want to see this kind of thing... and some of them have been in Iraq."

...today, their home stadium is enduringly linked with the nightmare that swept New Orleans when Katrina hit. The surrounding streets are a tangle of fallen power lines, smashed and charred homes, dead dogs, and abandoned cars, with not a soul to be seen, save a squad of four soldiers patrolling, picking their way past piles of steel and garbage.

Bush's reputation as a leader is in tatters:

The latest opinion poll by Newsweek magazine found that just 38 percent approve of Bush's job performance, while 52 percent of respondents no longer trust him to make the right decisions in a foreign or domestic crisis.

And a survey by Time magazine suggested 61 percent of Americans thought the government should cut its spending in Iraq to help pay for post-Katrina reconstruction.

As well it should be.

< A Most Powerful Katrina Cartoon | Explaining Dick Cheney's Absence >

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    • New Orleans Today: Wreckage and Bloated Bodies | 5 comments (5 topical)
    Re: New Orleans Today: Wreckage and Bloated Bodies (none / 0) (#1)
    by roger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:41 PM EST
    63 refriferated tractor trailers filled with dead bodies. I have this from a primary source, the news crews dont even know about it. Troops making jokes about shooting locals. FEMA workers have been told to shoot if they feel threatened, there wont be any investigation.

    Re: New Orleans Today: Wreckage and Bloated Bodies (none / 0) (#2)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:42 PM EST
    Bush and Brown should be made to swim in and retreive bodies. Did he bring his best fishing rod with him?

    Re: New Orleans Today: Wreckage and Bloated Bodies (none / 0) (#3)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:42 PM EST
    At least they backed down on the media ban, thanks to CNN's threat of lawsuit. Now the MSM have no one to blame but themselves for self censorship. I'm sure though, that they will defend their lack by claiming that public does not want to see such things.

    Re: New Orleans Today: Wreckage and Bloated Bodies (none / 0) (#4)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:44 PM EST
    Bush is a product of his environment. The ruling caste of the United States has always put property before people. Take a good look, because what we seeing in New Orleans are the end results of that value system.

    Re: New Orleans Today: Wreckage and Bloated Bodies (none / 0) (#5)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:44 PM EST
    Ernesto-remember the neutron bomb added to the arsenal 1974? Kills people but doesn't destroy property.

    New Orleans Today: Wreckage and Bloated Bodies | 5 comments (5 topical)