Defense Department Briefing on Ongoing National Guard Response to Hurricane Katrina

Department Of Defense ^ | September 3, 2005 | DOD

[msnimje]

GEN. BLUM: Good morning gentlemen. I just got back late last evening from New Orleans and the stricken areas in Mississippi along the Gulf Coast, and if you want I’ll give you a quick assessment of what we’ve seen--Dramatic changes in the last 36 hours. The security situation in New Orleans continues to improve. The most contentious issues were lawlessness in the streets, and particularly a potentially very dangerous volatile situation in the convention center where tens of thousands of people literally occupied that on their own. We had people that were evacuated from hotels, and tourists that were lumped together with some street thugs and some gang members that -- it was a potentially very dangerous situation.

-snip-

Last Paragraph: Q: And you estimate there's about a third of the New Orleans Police Department left. Do you remember about how many are in the New Orleans Police Department?

GEN. BLUM: On a normal day they should have 1,500 paid officers in New Orleans, give or take. Some people have said it's 1,650. It's in the rough order of 1,500-man police force, and I think the mayor told me they're down to less than 500.

[msnimje]

I search for this briefing on FR but did not find it. It is a little long but very interesting accounting of how the National Guard did not expect the Police Force in New Orleans to collapse.
He also debunks the "delay" myth.

[Ronzo]

....I think the President has made a tough and courageous decision. He wants to leave the governor in charge of the state, but he wants to make sure that we take decisive action as a nation to give that governor all of the resources and manpower necessary to deal with the complex problems that she has in Louisiana. So to use a simple analogy of a bathtub, I've got my spigot turned on and it's going at full volume, and I'm filling it up as fast as I can. I think what happened just this morning in the Rose Garden is the President turned on a second spigot, which is I think quite helpful and will prove to be the right decision in the long run.

Pres. Bush is much too nice....if I were pres, LA would have been federalized within 48 hours of the huricane. Within two days, it was already completely obvious that they did not even follow their own emergency plans.

[msnimje]

Pres. Bush is much too nice...

You are right about that. Sometimes I wish he had just a little Lyndon Johnson streak in him.

[Daralundy]

Does the president actually have the legal ability to remove Governor Blank from power?

[John Lenin]

GEN. BLUM: Yes, and they're not all in New Orleans. Any place where you harbor a group of people that have been damaged by the storm and dislocated from their houses, their lives have been interrupted, and they've lost in many cases everything, or have nothing on them that -- These kind of events bring out the best in people, and in some very limited number of folks brings out the worst in people. The governors have sent a clear message that citizens that have already suffered enough from the ravages of the storm, they will not tolerate lawlessness to make them a victim again. So there's very firm and forceful law enforcement. We have not suspended any laws. In fact they have invoked some emergency powers with curfews and all those type of measures. In some states the order has been given to shoot to kill.

Q: Louisiana --

GEN. BLUM: The governor of Louisiana has given that order. I think the governor of Mississippi did it earlier.

So this is serious business, and that is done to ensure that the lives of innocent people that have suffered this loss are not further traumatized by lawless citizens.

We will put the force in place that is required, as much as necessary for as long as it's needed. That's the easiest way I can put it to you. Now who decides what is necessary? That has to be the legally constituted government and in this case it's the governors of the states and the president of the United States flew down there to show his commitment to each and every one of the Gulf state governors yesterday, and reinforced that he will send them anything and everything within his legal powers to ensure that they are successful in restoring order and restoring normal life and regenerating the future of these great states down in the Gulf Coast.

[MEG33]

I don't think so, realistically..He could federalize it but states have their rights and last time that was done it was in consultation with the Mayor and Governor..LA Riots

[Daralundy]

Who do you suppose this could refer to? /sarc

And I want to say this. I think a big part of this story that's been missed is well over a million people evacuated New Orleans. Had someone not had the foresight -- there's been a lot of criticism of planning, and who did what and who didn't do what. Someone saw the storm coming. Somebody made the call early enough to get over a million people out of that city which is a magnificent and significant achievement that seems to be totally overlooked.

[msnimje]

He can't remove her but I believe the citizens of her state can Recall her.
I do not know if it is part of the The Posse Comitatus Act or not - I do know the Federal Government can take over the government of a state in the case the Government is somehow wiped out under some Emergency act or another.

[msnimje]

He should have arrested her.

Or pushed her out of Marine One the other day. Do you think that is why he is going back tomorrow?

[MEG33]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1477592/posts

[fso301]

The NYT says about 200 deserted on Sept 3. I wonder if Gen Blums estimate accounted for them or not? If not, those 200 may well have been the last of the NOPD.

[Lancer_N3502A]

Good brief. I can't wait to see that crack head mayor and Prozac queen governor fry in Congress.

[fso301]

In excess of a 70 percent desertion rate. I cannot think of anything in American history as an equivalent.

[uncitizen]

Neither of those two can handle the pressure of a Congressional hearing. Nagin will need a crack fix to get thru it.

[msnimje]

In excess of a 70 percent desertion rate. I cannot think of anything in American history as an equivalent

It is actually worse than that, they are trying to cover the fact that some number of the NOPD participated in the looting and the lawlessness.