Why has the Military not arrived?( Vanity )

Me | 09/01/2005 | Me

[devane617]

Looks like government enforcement of any kind has abandonded NO? What's up with that? I travel the area frequently and know several military installations in the area. Why have they not taken those personel with their weapons into NO and areas? Am I missing something? They should have had a military presence within 12 hours.

[RushCrush]

Hey liberal, the national guard IS the military.

[danneskjold]

The military is in New Orleans, as well as here in Baton Rouge...

[Paloma_55]

There are probably 100,000 sq miles of devastation.

If we send in 100,000 troops, that will mean one troop for every square mile. Do you think that will be enough?

[devane617]

I assume then it is the media that is not covering the presence of the military.

[aft_lizard]

Uhhh the National Guard?

And the active military cannot perform police action inside the US, its called the Posse Comitatus Act, from the 1800's. Now if the sherriffs of all these places announced they would deputize active duty personell then we can talk.

[Aerohawk]

The military cannot just pick up and move in 30 minutes. They have to organize and equip themselves with the supplies they will need to get the job done. Yeah, you can fly them down there for the day and fly them back to the base at night but if you intend for them to be on the ground for awhile then you need to have the supplies and support to maintain them while they do their mission. It's not as simple as everyone may think. There are a lot of logistics involved.

[aft_lizard]

100,000 sq milesd is huge, bigger than the state of Kansas.

Anyways we dont need 100,000 troops or 50000 to cover that large of an area. Alot of the area is uninhabitable, even for the ruffians.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

11,000 National Guard on duty and in the area, 10,000 more activated I think on Wednesday. Four Navy ships on the way with freshwater making capability and 500 hospital beds, Coast Guard and Army choppers working 24/7 ...... so just what do you want? OH and BTW the active Army can't by law enforce civil law and the Guard reports to the Governor.

[Travis McGee]

Thanks for your $0.02, General Devane.

[flashbunny]

Maybe he thinks we should have dropped the airborne into the flooded streets, so they could stand on the rooftops with the stranded citizens.

[devane617]

"...Hey liberal..."

You know, normally I would be offended by your snide remark, but the more I see our current President in action the more I lean toward voting Democratic next election.

[billnaz]

Clearly you are somewhat ignorant of military operations. This is not a movie, where the soldiers get on the trucks in one frame and dismount the trucks in the next frame. This is a division-sized deployment. You don't pick up a division and move it overnight. It takes a little time to get things moving.

[Maria S]

Well, I think the answer to your query is pretty obvious: Bush has sent ALL military, whether enlisted or national guard, to Iraq. We have NO ONE in this country available to protect us.

I know this is all true, because that's what NBCABCCBSCNNetal have told us...and they know everything about everything.

[Les_Miserables]

Wrong. It's called Martial Law, a prerogative of the President.
His failure to declare Martial Law in New Orleans should be grounds for impeachment and New Orleans will be his legacy. Instead of tapping Bubba and Daddy to fund raise he needs to act (yesterday). There clearly is no order in that city with armed scum firing on rescue workers. Bush is a terrible disappointment.No leadership. No better than the Damocrat Governor and Mayor.

[theophilusscribe]

A military helicopter hovers over Interstate-10 in the flooded city of New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005 as city residents walk along the raised roadway.

An elderly woman is helped onto a truck by two military personnel in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, seen in this undated handout photo, is being sent to the Gulf to join the relief effort for hurricane-battered Louisiana and Mississippi, the Navy said on September 1, 2005.

The U.S. military on August 31, 2005, added Navy ships, including two helicopter assault vessels and the hospital ship Comfort, and dozens of helicopters to a massive relief effort in the wake of killer Hurricane Katrina.

People ride in the back of a military vehicle after being rescued from high water on Canal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana.

[filbert]

Needs to be emphasized:

ONLY the National Guard, acting under the authority of the Governor, can perform police duties.

The Federal military can only provide support functions to local authorities, unless President Push suspends the Posse Comitatus act in New Orleans. This is not out of the question, but IMHO would be premature right now. National Guard units do not appear to be fully deployed yet and we don't know whether or not they will be sufficient to restore order.

[RushCrush]

I'm not trying to pick a fight here, but what would you suggest he do? What position are you in to know better than someone like, say, the president of the United States who probably has a lot more information at his disposal than you do?

I'm not a Bush-Bot but I simply cannot understand why people think they know MORE than the president?

[devane617]

I think I stepped on a nest of BushBots with my comment, but being completely military ignorant, I thought I would get a explanation from those that do have the knowledge, but received a sever name calling flame instead.

[DJ MacWoW]

You know, normally I would be offended by your snide remark, but the more I see our current President in action the more I lean toward voting Democratic next election.

OMG! OMG! Don't threaten us like that! We're SOOOOOO sorry!

*snicker*