[RushCrush]

Hey liberal, the national guard IS the military.

[danneskjold]

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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[cripplecreek]

My mother is a truck driver who followed a string of military vehicles into Baton Rouge this morning.

[theophilusscribe]

Members of the National Guard hand out ready-to-eat meals to some of the thousands of displaced residents from Hurricane Katrina at the Superdome, a last-resort shelter, in New Orleans about midnight, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2005.

This photo proivided by the US Navy Thursday Sept. 1, 2005 shows a National Guard multi-purpose utility truck bringing supplies to the SuperDome in downtown New Orleans.

Members of the Kentucky Air National Guard hustle to load two trucks and a variety of other supplies onto a C-130 transport for departure to New Orleans Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005, in Louisville, Ky.

Georgia Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Joseph Barnard, right, prepares for flight in the tail of a helicopter Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005

[DocRock]

"They should have had a military presence within 12 hours."

They did have military in there. This was Tuesday.



click the pic to watch the video

[theophilusscribe]

National Guard trucks haul residents through flood waters to the Superdome, a shelter of last resort, after their neighborhoods were flooded after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Louisiana Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005.

National Guard members from the 233 Battalion Engine travel southbound on Interstate 55 near, Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005, as they make their way toward Gulfport, Miss., to assist with the Hurricane Katrina relief.

In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima pulls away from her berth at Naval Station Norfolk, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005, in Norfolk, Va., enroute to New Orleans. From Navy ships and Army helicopters to the USNS Comfort hospital ship, the Pentagon is mobilizing possibly an unprecedented U.S. rescue-and-relief mission for areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

An army truck evacuates stranded New Orleans residents from the Superdome sports stadium in the hurricane-ravaged city of New Orleans August 31, 2005.

[theophilusscribe]

Petty Officer 1st Class Steven Huerta prepares to hoist two children into a Coast Guard rescue helicopter in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 29, 2005
Stranded New Orleans residents are evacuated from the hurricane-ravaged city on an Army truck August 31, 2005.

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, cdr. Joint Task Force Katrina, salutes as he walks on the flight deck aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005, in Norfolk, Va. From Navy ships and Army helicopters to the USNS Comfort hospital ship, the Pentagon is mobilizing possibly an unprecedented U.S. rescue-and-relief mission for areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

This photo released by the Department of Defense shows the Landing Craft Utility 1656 as it departs for New Orleans, from the well deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005, in the Gulf of Mexico loaded with sand bags, water, a small flat-bottom boat lifejackets, a High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle, and supplies to last 10 days. Department of Defense units are mobilizing to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief efforts in the Gulf Coast areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin R. Feussner, 33, writes down the locations of stranded individuals in need of assistance in the wake of Hurricane Katrina on Monday at Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile, Alabama, August 29, 2005

A resident is rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard from a home surrounded by floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005 in New Orleans.

A rescue worker guides a flood victim toward a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter during rescue operations in New Orleans, Louisiana in this still video image taken on August 30, 2005.

Arkansas Air National Guard Sgts. Perry Hopman, left, Steve Otis, center, and Jason Barfield ready a helicopter for flight Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005, at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock, Ark. The crew is scheduled to assist with rescue efforts on the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

[Jack Deth]

I travel the area frequently and know several military installations in the area.

Did it ever occur to you that those military installations might be as badly hit and damaged by Katrina as the rest of New Orleans?

It also takes time to amass troops. Then come up with a strategy or plan to hold off the bad guys while refugeees are moved elsewhere.

That plan would encompass one "place", while there are thousands of "places" needing help.

Let the Engineers come up with a way to brace broken levees. Get the water level down. Then send in the troops to cordon, contain and evacuate.

Jack.

[Dashing Dasher]

[jwalsh07]

Yes you are missing something, your cerebral cortex to be exact.

[mark502inf]

devane, a legitimate question. First, the National Guard is already there. However, the Governor's orders were for them to conduct relief operations, not security ops. As a result, they were not positioned or equipped to help enforce laws & stop looting. In contrast, after Hurricane Andrew, the National Guard immediately went into a security role. As a result,looting and lawlessness never had a chance to get started. And then it was very easy for relief operations to take place in a stable and secure environment.

[georgiabike]

Even if the Federal government can be omniscient enough to know in advance exactly where and what kind of relief will be needed, you don't position your assets too close to the potential disaster area lest you risk having them blown away by the very hurricane you are preparing for. Unfortunately, it takes some time to move the massive amount of resources needed into the area.

[jjs]

We are definately not liberals but my hub has been saying the same thing all week..."why is this taking so long?" What does this say for any disaster? Too much red tape! jennifer