Fox News reporter Major Garrett is reporting that the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security prevented the Red Cross from delivering food, water, and medical supplies to the Superdome and the New Orleans Convention Center.
Their apparent reasoning was to make conditions so intolerable that these evacuees would be forced to leave, and would prevent others from arriving.
The transcript of an interview with Major Garrett on Hugh Hewitt's show can be found here.
Red Cross, Hugh, had pre-positioned a literal vanguard of trucks with water, food, blankets and hygiene items. They're not really big into medical response items, but those are the three biggies that we saw people at the New Orleans Superdome, and the convention center, needing most accutely... You know, I watch hurricanes all the time. And I see correspondents standing among rubble and refugees and evacuaees. But I always either see that Red Cross or Salvation Army truck nearby. Why don't I see that? ... The answer is the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security, that is the state agency responsible for that state's homeland security, told the Red Cross explicitly, you cannot come.
If this is true, Governor Blanco is going to have a lot to answer for...
Edited: PC
Article comments
1 - Gary
"If this is true, Governor Blanco is going to have a lot to answer for..."
Sounds like She won't have a lot to answer for.
I heard FOX news is also reporting that Bigfoot told Nagin not to build the levees higher so that Osama Bin Laden could land a U.F.O. in the French Quarter after the flood and release radioactive otters into the water.
These Democrats have a lot of explaning to do if that's the case.
2 - Kurt
Fox news gets less credible and more corporate-kissing every week. I need some triangulation on this one...
3 - Dave Nalle
This story isn't just coming from Fox news, it's being picked up and carried all over the place by plenty of reputable sources.
This originates with a statement from the head of the Red Cross on Bill O'Reilly's show, which is in fact repeated on their website. The Red Cross maintains that they were prohibited from entering New Orleans for two days by the Louisiana Dept. of Homeland Security because they basically wanted to starve people out and force them to gather for evacuation.
And yes, Gary, they've got a LOT of explaining to do.
Dave
4 - Rich
Consider the source and messenger.
5 - RJ
From the American Red Cross site that Dave linked to:
"The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city."
The Superdome and the NOCC were both in New Orleans.
The state government of Louisiana has prevented the American Red Cross from helping people in New Orleans.
The head of the Louisiana state government is Governor Blanco.
Any questions?
6 - Dave Nalle
Rich: "Consider the source and messenger."
You have something against the Red Cross and their chairwoman?
Dave
7 - alethinos59
WWHHYY does this have to be a "democrat" issue OR a "republican" issue?
There is plenty of blame to go around. IT does start with Bush and his administration sure. And his not having a CLUE is INFURIATING but there are others that screwed up just as well. And I am sure a LOT of them are democrats.
The only real issue is WHO has the largest SHARE of the blame... But no one should escape. Including Congress who could have given the Army Corp more money - essentially refusing Bush's budget...
8 - Georgio
I am a democrat so let me be the first to criticize a Democrat ..If Governor Blanco said this she is an Idiot but I already figured that out and so is the Mayor..The other idiots that I have found so far are Bush Brown and Chernoff...thank God there was a lot of volunteers that did things on their own or things could have been worst..
9 - godoggo
I'm certainly no expert on Louisiana or New Orleans Democratic politics, but I've long been familiar with their peculiar reputation for corruption and incompetence, the cause of which has little basis in party identification that I can think of (though it does occur to me that it's the state where David Duke once ran on the Republican ticket).
However, Bush's neglect, aside from being much more consequencial in practical and polical terms (by the latter I mean that the importance of a politician's callousness and incompetence rises proportionately with his power and, thus, responsibility), is notable because, as Kevin Drum has argued (much better than I could), their expression of his ideology (and possibly, as was argued today in Slate today, of political calculation i.e. the Southern Strategy -- though I'm not...yet...entirely sold on this in regards to this particular case).
In other words, despite the paucity of Democrats eager to defend the afforementioned politicians, partisan politics are in fact significant - but in a more substantive way than the one that creeps like J.R. (nice Amazon link you got there, by the way), not to mention Bush, choose to emphasize.
God, there are so many good political blogs out there...
10 - The Man
You can be sure all those school busses that were sitting in15 feet of water were running on election day to bring votes to the polls...
11 - Dave Nalle
>>(though it does occur to me that it's the state where David Duke once ran on the Republican ticket). <<
Of course, the great irony about Louisiana is that it's the one state where Duke could run as a 'reform' candidate and not immediately be laughed off the podium.
Dave
12 - arlette
Lousisana politician's history of corruption is reknown; however, even they do not live up the history of corruption and exploitation attributed to the Red Cross. They claim they were prevented from distributing basic supplies in New Orleans. Who prevented them from showing up and distributing basic life maintaining supplies on the Mississippi Gulf Coast? Who can verify that said supplies were even in Lousisana for distribution? If these supplies were available, why didn't they show up in the other devastated Parishes. Katrina is the proving to be the Red Cross's biggest scam.