Was it the Race Card?
Posted on 09/03/2005 4:07:38 PM PDT by HAL9000
NEW ORLEANS, United States (AFP) - A top New Orleans police officer said that National Guard troops sat around playing cards while people died in the stricken city after Hurricane Katrina.New Orleans deputy police commander W.S. Riley launched a bitter attack on the federal response to the disaster though he praised the way the evacuation was eventually handled.
His remarks fuelled controversy over the government's handling of events during five days when New Orleans succumbed to lawlessness after Katrina swamped the city's flood defenses.
The National Guard commander, Lieutenant General Steven Blum, said the reservist force was slow to move troops into New Orleans because it did not anticipate the collapse of the city's police force.
But Riley said that for the first three days after Monday's storm, which is believed to have killed several thousand people, the police and fire departments and some volunteers had been alone in trying to rescue people.
"We expected a lot more support from the federal government. We expected the government to respond within 24 hours. The first three days we had no assistance," he told AFP in an interview.
Riley went on: "We have been fired on with automatic weapons. We still have some thugs around. My biggest disappointment is with the federal government and the National Guard.
"The guard arrived 48 hours after the hurricane with 40 trucks. They drove their trucks in and went to sleep.
"For 72 hours this police department and the fire department and handful of citizens were alone rescuing people. We have people who died while the National Guard sat and played cards. I understand why we are not winning the war in Iraq if this is what we have."
Riley said there is "a semblance of organisation now."
"The military is here and they have done an excellent job with the evacuation" of the tens of thousands of people stranded in the city.
The National Guard commander said the city police force was left with only a third of its pre-storm strength.
"The real issue, particularly in New Orleans, is that no one anticipated the disintegration or the erosion of the civilian police force in New Orleans," Blum told reporters in Washington.
"Once that assessment was made ... then the requirement became obvious," he said. "And that's when we started flowing military police into the theatre."
On Friday, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin denounced the slow federal response as too little, too late, charging that promised troops had not arrived in time.
"Now get off your asses and let's do something and fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country," the mayor said in remarks aired on CNN.
Blum said that since Thursday some 7,000 National Guard and military police had moved into the city. President George W. Bush on Saturday ordered an additional 7,000 active duty and reserve ground troops.
Blum said any suggestion that the National Guard had not performed well or was late was a "low blow".
The initial priority of the Louisiana and Mississippi National Guard forces was disaster relief, not law enforcement, because they expected the police to handle that, he said.
The police commander was unable to give a death toll for New Orleans.
"We have bodies all over the city. A federal mortuary team was supposed to come in within 24 hours. We haven't seen them. It is inhumane. This is just not America."
Riley said he did not even know how many police remained from a normal force of 1,700.
"Many officers lost their homes or their families and there are many we have not heard from. Some officers could not handle the pressure and left. I don't know if we have 800 or thousands today."
What an ass. They should all be fired, if not brought up on charges.
God how I detest this.
I understand a lot of the NOPD bugged out. Riley had better not be attacking the Guard after so many of his cops were AWOL.
I wonder if this was the same guy I saw on tv saying "Where is the government!??!?!?"
Note to police: YOU ARE THE GOVERNMENT!!!
When New Orleans deputy police commander W.S. Riley finds his "police force" maybe he can ask them where they were during and after the Hurricane. Does anyone know where they are?
Riley screwed the pooch and now he wants to point his crooked little finger at somebody else. It was YOUR job amigo! Not the National Guard!
Or it could be that no one anticipated the gov. and mayor could be such bozos. Could be no one anticipated 25% of the city wouldn't have heeded the warnings. Could be that no one anticipated so many of that 25% would sit on a curb complaining the dropped drinking water was warm rather than walk up the street to shelters. Could be no one anticipated rescuers and doctors would be attacked.
Some National guard troops were there before the hurricane hit and who calls in the National Guard? Isn't it the Governor? Why are all the local and state responsibilities now being laid at the feet of the federal government?
Lordy all this bitching about the help they got has really put me in a giving mode....
All the officials are point fingers, trying to cast blame on someone else.
Which is exactly the point that caused the problem in the first place -- no one stepped up to the plate to take responsibility before, during, or days after.
The French just love this stuff.
The timeline makes it absolutely clear that the riots were due to the failure of the mayor, the chief of police, and the police in general. They were the ones who were there on the spot, and they are the ones who failed to control the situation.
According to some reports posted here, Louisiana police participated in the looting. If true, they should be punished.
Did National Guardsmen play cards? Maybe so. So what? I've been in the military, and the motto has always been "Hurry up and wait." If someone pulled out a deck of cards while waiting for orders or for transportation, so what?
Some of them were at WalMart.
BS. This 'police officer' is covering for their own incompetence.. wouldn't doubt he was looting himself.
Just the facts, Officer Riley.
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