Huh? What the heck is going on in Basra??

Check out this story. VERY REVEALING!
Basra tense after jail raid drama
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/09/20/iraq.main/index.html
"...UK armored vehicles crashed into a detention center in Basra and later rescued two undercover troops."
"...two unknown gunmen in full Arabic dress began firing on civilians in central Basra, wounding several, including a traffic police officer..."
"The two gunmen fled the scene but were captured and taken in for questioning, admitting they were British Marines carrying out a "special security task," the official said."

So many questions about this incident:
Gee, I thought the Iraq police were our allies? Guess not.
If accounts are accurate, why were these 2 British marines in full Arabic dress and firing on civilians? What was this "special security task"?
Could this be evidence of the coalition fomenting unrest in relatively "peaceful" sections of Iraq? For what purpose? To further spread the civil war in the country perhaps?
Did you know that twice in the past 2 months somebody affiliated with the NY Times has been killed in Basra? Curious...

Things that should make you go hmmm....

- Vox

Tragic story

We had to kill our patients
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=361980
"In an extraordinary interview with The Mail on Sunday, one New Orleans doctor told how she 'prayed for God to have mercy on her soul' after she ignored every tenet of medical ethics and ended the lives of patients she had earlier fought to save."
"Those who had no chance of making it were given a lot of morphine and lain down in a dark place to die."

It's all racial

You know, not to sound alarmist and lose what little credibility I have, but I have an opinion:
I ask myself:
Why the militarization of New Orleans? Battle-hardened soldiers "locked and loaded", Blackwater mercenaries (the best, most highly-trained professional killers in the world).
Why the aggressive media lock-down of the area? The same type you see in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Why the spin? Not the spin that you're seeing in the media, but the covert spin in the streets?

My answer: Both the state and federal gov't are doing everything in their power to avoid a RACE-RIOT the likes of which hasn't been seen since Rodney King. If you listen to certain people that have been on the ground since the beginning of this catastrophy, they'll tell you how close the area came to having one in the aftermath of the hurricane, and my sense is that feelings haven't yet calmed.
Stories of white vigilantes roving around certain areas seeming to have carte blanche to carry (and use) weapons, talking about protecting property and enforcing the law, while authorities are coming down hard on blacks.
There are things going on on the ground in New Orleans that we are not hearing about and most may never hear about, because most don't want to hear about it, and deny it exists. If nothing else, this episode emphasizes that we do live in TWO AMERICAS. You can euphemistically say the problem has to do with economics if you can't stomach reality, but what it all boils down to is race and the LEGACY OF SLAVERY.

Please, all comments welcome.

- Vox

Hunger strikers pledge to die in Guantánamo

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1566123,00.html
"More than 200 detainees in Guantánamo Bay are in their fifth week of a hunger strike, the Guardian has been told.
Statements from prisoners in the camp which were declassified by the US government on Wednesday reveal that the men are starving themselves in protest at the conditions in the camp and at their alleged maltreatment - including desecration of the Qur'an - by American guards."

Insight into how our government works (part X)

Politicizing Disaster Relief: How FEMA Overcompensated Florida Citizens in the Run-Up to the Presidential Election
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/08/142219
"In the fall of 2004, with the presidential election on the horizon, the key battleground state of Florida was facing its second hurricane in less than a month.
In response, FEMA awarded millions of dollars in disaster funds to residents of Miami-Dade County, even though the area did not experience hurricane conditions."
"According to the documents, a federal consultant to FEMA predicted that a disaster could reflect poorly on President Bush and suggested that his re-election staff be brought in to minimize any political liability."

After witnessing the incompetence of FEMA with our own eyes in the Gulf Coast states, how can't we be so naive as to doubt this anymore (mainly for you coindicence theorists out there).

- Vox

Overkill: Feared Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0910-07.htm
"Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional killers in the world and they are accustomed to operating without worry of legal consequences. Their presence on the streets of New Orleans should be a cause for serious concern for the remaining residents of the city and raises alarming questions about why the government would allow men trained to kill with impunity in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to operate here. Some of the men now patrolling the streets of New Orleans returned from Iraq as recently as 2 weeks ago."

Beware of the privatization of the military.

- Vox

Just wondering

Most of the media coverage that I've seen on the disaster in the Gulf Coast has been pretty raw, emotional and spontaneous.

What would the coverage have been like if the media was "embedded" with FEMA and the National Guard?

- Vox

Oh, those Bushes...

"Barbara Bush said: "Almost everyone I’ve talked to says we're going to move to Houston."
Then she added: "What I’m hearing which is sort of scary (?? emphasis by Vox) is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality."
"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them.""

Now I wonder what would possess her to say something like that?

- Vox

Kanye is right

His stock went up a couple of notches with me. We all need to diverge from the prewritten script we're living these days.

- Vox

Lest we forget II

Iraqi Rebels Launch Daring Daylight Assault
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090605Z.shtml

Lest we forget...

Insurgents Assert Control Over Town Near Syrian Border
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/05/AR2005090500313_pf.html
Remember this nugget:"Capt. Jeffrey Pool, a Marine spokesman in Ramadi, capital of the western province that includes Qaim, said he had no word of unusual activity in Qaim. Marines are stationed just outside the town, and no Iraqi government forces are posted inside, Pool said."

Operation Zero Tolerance in New Orleans

http://www.bendib.com/newones/2005/september/small/9-4-Baghdad-by-the-Bayou.jpg

NONE OF WHAT IS GOING ON IN NEW ORLEANS IS A SURPRISE!!

"No one can say they didn't see it coming"
(portion of article here)
"In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war."

and

Nothing's Easy for New Orleans Flood Control (from April 30, 2002)
http://www.hurricane.lsu.edu/_in_the_news/april30_ny_times.htm
"That event could place vast sections under 20 feet or more of water, engineers and scientists say, with worst-case computer predictions showing death tolls in the tens of thousands with many more people trapped by high water that has no natural drainage outlets."
"There's no way to minimize the amount of devastation that could take place under such circumstances," warned Walter S. Maestri, director of emergency management of Jefferson Parish..."
"In a hypothetical situation projected by his computers, Dr. Suhayda continued, a slow-moving Category 4 hurricane, with winds up to 155 miles an hour, or a Category 5 hurricane with even stronger winds could leave water 30 feet deep on this neighborhood street, which is more than five feet below sea level."

How prepared are we?

- Vox

Katrina Aftermath II

It's also naive, foolish or worse not to make the connection between the quagmire in Iraq and how it has depleted our ability to respond to these types of disasters here at home, in terms of both financial and human resources (Army Core of Engineers, National Guard, Louisiana flood control projects).

The billions of dollars going toward the war effort? Well, it comes from somewhere. Maybe now more people will ask where.

Emergency Preparedness? Yeah, right.

- Vox

Katrina Aftermath

I am getting more enraged with each passing day as I watch the chaos down south.
In this so-called "post-9/11 era", where billions of dollars is allegedly being spent on our emergency response, our preparedness, our reaction to disasters, what's going on in New Orleans and Mississippi is inexplicable and indefensible!
Forget the fact that it was a natural disaster that caused all the destruction. It could have just as easily been a terrorist bomb blowing up the levees holding back the lake waters, so that's irrelevant.
The response of the planners at FEMA and the National Guard, and the lack of a solid evacuation plan or survival plan plan is disgraceful and shameful.
WHERE ARE THE FOOD DROPS?? WHERE'S THE COORDINATION??
Now the focus is on the "lawlessness" and the "anarchy" going on among the residents. Talk about a RED HERRING! The focus should be on the fact that people are not being fed, clothed, treated medically.
You can't ignore the racial aspect of this disaster. In a state that is 32% black or African American, the Orleans area is almost 70% (see demographics). It's naive, foolish or worse to think that this is irrelevant or a coincidence.
As far as not casting blame, that a load of crap. Notice how that usually comes from those who the blame should fall directly on.
BLAME = ACCOUNTABILITY. Lets see how far up the accountability ladder we go this time. My hunch is not that far.
This is unacceptable. Don't fall for the BS. WE MUST EXPECT MORE FROM OUR COUNTRY, OUR HOME!

- Vox