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."
I am so sick of this BS. Within the nest several months every state better have a damn plan for things like this. NYC included. Hindsight is 20/20 and these slugs ripping people apart while the officals of NOLA are basically silent except for the mayor who should actually be in hiding in my opinion. Actually a bunch of them should be hiding in fear.
Evidentally the police were busy looting! Unbelievable.
The voters in NO got what they voted for. A 'Rat in more ways than one.
What a complete moron. This is why N.O. is such a disaster area today. This idiot does NOT even understand how the emergency system HE is suppose to be a vital cog of works. The Guard is UNDER STATE GOVERMENT command. It has NOTHING to do with the "Feds" when it was sent into NO. Couldn't be they played cards because the New Orleans Police had totally lost control of the streets and their was nothing UNARMED National Guards troops COULD do about it?
Ragin cajun Nagin replaces Rev Al as most ignorant loudmouth of the week.
You just can't do it. But the real wonder of Leftist swine morality is that they're never expected to do *anything* but run their mouths about others.
>What an ass, didn't he see the Coast Guard choppers pulling people off roofs?
And I didn't see pics of the NOPD rescuing anyone, by car, boat, A/C or pure bravery!
Which state's guardsmen? Did the governor call for them or did they come on someone else's orders to wait for full staging? Did the complainent have time to supervise his own looting officers while he was criticizing others?
They had to do something to pass the time while waiting on the idiot mayor and governor to tell them what to do and where to go.
Beats the heck out of what the NOPD did, which was to assist in the looting.
earth to NOPD, the National Guard is under the command and control of the Governor! Where were the State Police? This fiasco falls squarely on the shoulders of the Mayor and his cronies, and the Governor and her cronies. Since they are not doing their jobs the Feds are now stepping in to clean it up. And you can bet, the mayor and the Governor will be taking credit for the Fed response. The Mayor is already saying he had to raise hell to get a Fed response. If I were Bush I would have told these Bozos in front of News crews to step aside so the Feds can clean up after their incompetence!
Says it all
Exactly which national Guard troops were playing cards?
and
Exactly where were they playing cards?
They were the NG troops who were asked to secure the police stations that the NOPD had abandon. Nothing was going on at the stations but they had to protect the armory inside the station. They could not leave their post and would not do it as the NOPD had done.
BS. The NG didn't play cards because they thought the NOPD would not collapse. It makes it sound as though the NG moves at its own discretion.
The city had a plan in place. It was not followed or executed as planned.
He's an incompetent boob and a liar to boot.
The COAST GUARD was in there with helicopters doing rescues as soon as the flooding began.
Everyone who lives in hurricane prone areas knows to plan for three to five days of food, water and the basic necessities of life. You'd think officials would be more aware of this than most. It's agonizing!!
Uh huh, and 30% of the NO police force walked off the job within hours to do their own moonlighting brand of looting.
If the many of the local LEO did not give a damn, why expect more from strangers?
Oh really? I didn't see even ONE policeman dropping on a line from a helicopter lifting people off roofs. People who wouldn't have been there if this top cop had done his job and got them out BEFORE the hurricane.
The New Orleans police force is a bunch of incompetents from the gitgo. Was watching Fox News last night and Geraldo Rivera was interviewing a major officer of the NOPD. The man was a complete idiot, trying to do a CYA act, blaming everyone elese except his guilty self. The Governor, the Mayor and the NOPD are an absolute waste. The remaining voters in Louisiana should impeach these failures immediately. The blood of innocent citizens who supported these fools runs from their political hack hands. Wake up Louisiana, and see the real truth about your Democrat Party leaders.
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