Just a brief snippet from the CNN reporters "blog". Read it, it's terrifying and saddening:
People are carrying their children, trying to get them to safety. A woman coming down to the police, close to hysterics, saying, "My elderly mother is in a building over there, she needs dialysis. She can't get it. She is dying. Can you help me?"Why is it George Bush, both in Iraq and here, can't seem to figure out that he ALWAYS misunderestimates what it takes to get the job done. Too few troops in Iraq, too few here. People die as a result of your decisions Mr. President. I wish you cared about that, but clearly you don't.
And the police had to say, "There is absolutely nothing we can do. We don't have a precinct house. We don't have communication. There is absolutely nothing we can do for you."
That was amazing to me.
The other thing that struck me was the looting. The police were standing in the middle of the street and right in front of them stores were being ransacked. And they didn't even make an effort to stop it. I don't think they could, under the circumstances.
They were totally outnumbered. They couldn't call for any reinforcements. And frankly, the priority now isn't property. The priority has to be people and people's lives. The police are there protectively, I think, in case things escalate even further. But they are powerless. They're powerless in this situation.
Tags: Katrina
