'America is overwhelmed' (the world's press reacted with disbelief)

[sabra]

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1764241,00.html

'America is overwhelmed'

Paris - The world's press reacted with disbelief on Friday to mayhem overrunning the hurricane disaster zone in the United States, describing the chaos as reminiscent of a Third World crisis and as a humiliating episode for the superpower.

"Here is a superpower that can crush at will a tinpot dictatorship but then becomes so bogged down in the grisly aftermath of war that it finds itself unable to respond to anything like adequately to the plight of tens of thousands of its own citizens engulfed by a natural calamity," said Britain's Daily Mail newspaper.

"President Bush, his ratings already in free-fall, could pay a high price indeed for his military folly," it said.

...

France's Figaro newspaper headlined: "America overwhelmed by catastrophe."

...

"A modern city that sinks under the waters and into anarchy is a cruel spectacle for an absolute champion of security like (US President George W) Bush, who incidentally seems out of his depth," it said.

[RockaFowler]

1. This is Horrible

I saw a report that said, "How could the United States look like a 3rd world country?"
Yes how could it

[Burried News]

3. Haiti with Hubris

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

5. Answer: Because it has BECOME one

:shrug:

[Eloriel]

37. Right. All that's left is this thick veneer of what used to be the US

as a great superpower. Everything beneath that top layer is crumbling, and fast.

[killbotfactory]

14. It's always been here...

But covered in a lot of makeup.

[Straight Shooter]

38. Answer: What you see is what you get.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

[katty]

39. because bush&co DON'T GIVE A DAMN-NOT EVEN ALLOWING

other countries (including Canada!) to help U.S.!! that is how much of an asshole he is.

[donco6]

2. Wow. Pointed and utterly verifiable.

Quotes from people in the area are uniformly condemnatory of Bush as well. As they should be. This is worse than a debacle.

[Toots]

4. like US President George W Bush, who incidentally seems out of his depth

Ya think???????

[alarcojon]

23. Ah, those French have always been

masters of undestatement. "seems out of his depth" indeed.


:rofl:

[belle]

33. "who incidentally seems out of his depth." love it.

[katty]

40. they stick the obvious IRONY to the asshole in the WH

[indepat]

31. Out of his depth: wow, minces no words

[Poor Richard Lex]

6. and it is now clear

that having our military and resourced going to Iraq has left the US vulnerable.

NOLA gives us a clear picture of how bushco would handle any new terrorist attack. We are completely unprepared, despite billions for homeland security. Wonder where all the money went?

Its a boondoggle for the fat cats looking for fat federal contracts. These criminals should be in jail, not flying in AF1 leading the country.

welcome to the third world

[Jawja]

8. Yes, they handled this like

the FIRST terrorist attack: they did NOTHING.

[wli]

9. Odds of SCO attack: increasing. n/t

[malaise]

7. You know

when I recall the condescending manner in which MSM reported the tsunami disaster relief effort, I sit here wondering if they realize that given the resources of those poor Asian countries they did a much better job.

At least there was no notice for the tsunami but experts predicted this would happen and the fugging government did nothing for days.

In my own country people cannot believe the response from Bush et al and many are screaming racism. I think it's way more complex than that and wonder whether the total dependence on technology and the 'me first neo-liberal culture' hasn't made this way worse than it would have been in almost any developing country.

Fidel must be sitting back wondering why the US didn't ask him how to prepare for a catastrophic hurricane. His plan is 100 times better than this rubbish. I am now beyond angry. Anytime property and wealth matter more than people, this will be the result.
Oh by the way, Fuck Bush.
<edit -sp>

[northzax]

18. I don't recall the condescention so much

but think about it, the US Military was able to get relief supplies to a remote island of the Indonesian Archipeligo, where a war was going on, faster than it could get them to the mouth of the mississippi river.

I was talking to a friend in England last night, we'd both seen the pictures of dead bodies being ignored to deal with the living. She said, "how is it that America cannot deal with it's dead? I expect this in Africa, or Central America or Asia after a catastrophe, but America? no more than I'd expect it in England, Japan, France or Germany. What a fucking shame."

the dream is dying, my friends, what little remained overseas. And that dream is all America was. Just as the barbarians didn't fear the Roman legions after Kalkriese, and the Mongol Armies drowned in the Kamikaze, our armies have lost their fear factor. now we are losing out cultural power as well. (Rome went crazy from lead, the mongols split into factions, we can't save a city) bastards.

[samsingh]

50. bush is a complete incompetent fool who is destroying America

everybody in the country just doesn't know it yet.

[qanda]

10. The Empire has no clothes

[GOPBasher]

11. In defence of "W," he's consistent: He's making us a 3rd-world

country, and he wants to make sure we look like it.

[Supersedeas]

25. And he is spending like a third world dictator-while ignoring the populace

[JoFerret]

43. And here is the hidden face of so much of that populace

...desperate, poor and usually hidden from the public gaze on display for the world to see.

[lateo]

12. I wish the American press would say these things...

[Pretty_in_CodePink]

13. The problem is he is already elected and serving his second term.

snip <"President Bush, his ratings already in free-fall, could pay a high price indeed for his military folly," it said. >snip

Of course the best price he could have paid for being such an incompetent dumbass would have been not to be installed in office in the first place and then not to have been re-elected. The price he pays will NEVER be compensation for the global sweeping damage he has caused.

The high price will be paid by the people in NO. And by the rest of us in the US.

I am seething at all these people who voted and supported and some even continue to support *. What a painful learning we have to go through.

[Pacifist Patriot]

15. Truth hurts.

[suegeo]

16. America is being murdered

Be warned "rest of the world"

In the event you have not figured it out yet: THIS IS DELIBERATE. They want a worldwide empire, where corporate freaks rule. But to get it, they gotta kill America. And the notion of nation/state. A new world order. Get it?

[glitch]

35. Got it.

Most definitely.

[chomskysright]

36. "MALEVOLENT NEGLECT":

Mr. Krugman:

You stated:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/02/opinion/02krugman.html

I don't think this is a simple tale of incompetence. The reason the military wasn't rushed in to help along the Gulf Coast is, I believe, the same reason nothing was done to stop looting after the fall of Baghdad. Flood control was neglected for the same reason our troops in Iraq didn't get adequate armor.

I think what we are mapping out here is what I am calling 'Malevolent Neglect.' It has certain 'constructs' (psychologists map out the 'interior', if you will, of a phenomenon.) See below.

---------- Forwarded Message ----------


There's a phenomenon going on here re: lack of federal assistance in N.O. and what took place prior to 9-11. I'm using the phrase (as psychologists are prone to assign something a descriptor as a kind of short-hand) "Malevolent Neglect."

We now have 2 BIG instances of Malevolent Neglect: 9-11 and New Orleans.

Both are associated with information voluminously parlayed to Bush's administration prior to the event. This is established.

Back up: get away from the smoke: what do you see: 2 events with massive warning, should've-been-planning, finger pointing during which nothing goes into the US Cabinet and little impact on the U.S. Congress.

I keep thinking back to Stanley Milgram's experiments; to Zimbardo's prison experiment. There are big archetypal forces being examined in all of these settings: sadism and torture.

There is a social psychology experiment being played out here---either consciously or unconsciously. I think some of both, more conscious than not, with the related parties, particularly Rove I think, working the pieces onto the board and then whistling as he walks away into the dark of the night, knowing that sometime/ somewhere the levee will break, the terrorists will take over the planes, the London Muslims scrambling in their back-packs because they all of a sudden figured out what was up.

[YapiYapo]

17. France's Figaro newspaper headlined: "America overwhelmed by catastrophe."

France's Figaro newspaper headlined: "America overwhelmed by catastrophe."

http://www.lefigaro.fr/

"Katrina, le cauchemar de l'Amérique" it mean "Katerina, American Nightmare"

Figaro actually is one of the less harsh french newspaper about US governement inability to rescue NO citizens.It's a one of the most right wing newspaper in France so maybe that explain it.

[jbnow]

19. May I say shit?

Because while close they don't quite get it.

We are nothing like a 3rd world country, we are worse. They do the best with what they have.
We have the money, the equipment, the people, the food and the water...so we have no excuse.

Bush will pay a price? No price he could pay touches on the price being paid by those waiting for food, drink, rescue...or those that couldn't wait anymore and died.

[goforit]

20. You would think that we would be "ready" for disaster....NOT!!!!!

[SoCalDem]

21. "Bush Could pay a high price"..huh? And what would that be?

His lackeys will circle around hinm and protect him, the "opposition" is too timid to say the TRUTH, he was just appointed to a 2nd term.. What price?? low poll numbers..hah.,what a joke.. he still controls our money, our military, our safety (or lack thereof)..he's untouchable and he knows it.. That's why he's the most dangerous man on the planet right now.

[WhoWantsToBeOccupied]

22. Time to beg Canada to invade???

[peacetalksforall]

24. I love France and the French, but I resent their partnership and support

of the U.S. for the devastation we and they just brought to Haiti by kicking Aristede out and turning the country over to official criminals with the World Bank and U.S. Govt officials moving in to take over. Haiti is suffering from more murder and starvation (or equal to the murder and starvation) under the Papa and Baby Docs. Check it out. France was with the U.S. on this. Their people can speak out in a critique against the handling of our devestataion in the gulf cities, but not their leaders, especially Chirac.

Additionally, the France-U.S. partnership against Aristede (a duly elected President) and the people of Haiti was the pinnacle of hypocrisy by right wing republicans who passionately shout out against eating french fries, but partner with the destruction of a another poor country with African heritage.

[pippin]

26. The World Has Known

for a long time that W is a total fool. Only Americans of a certain ilk have been stupid enough not to realize this.

[David__77]

27. This is what happens to empires.

They don't care about the poor and infirm, only commodities and political power.

[1932]

30. Exactly. They become about making the rich rich off the backs of the poor

and then the whole thing is so imbalanced it tips over.

Katrina is revealing how much our society is decaying from extreme polarization of wealth and due to the fact that, to make the rich rich, we have let our infrastructure and our public services atrophy.

[AspenRose]

28. What Britain needs to understand is that some American citizens are

more important to Bushco than others.

Like white voters in red Florida during an election year, versus black and poor voters in blue New Orleans.

"...it finds itself unable to respond to anything like adequately to the plight of tens of thousands of its own citizens engulfed by a natural calamity," said Britain's Daily Mail newspaper."

[1932]

29. Last week Wes Clark said we had to win in Iraq or other countries would

see that we were week and we'd lose the strengh of our bargaining position and our threat of force with other countries (with which I disagree -- I think if we show the world that we can make a success of an illegal invasion, then the rest of the world will be MORE interested in seeing us fail).

Now we have a sitiuation where, because of the money we have wasted in Iraq trying to show the world how powerful we are (without much success, other then we're showing them that we can turn a country into a liberterian profit-channeling garden of eden), we can't save our own citizens at home from poor infranstructure and poverty and we can't even run a functioning rescue effort and the rest of the world is stunned by how decayed we are as a nation.

But what is the consequence? Countries we have insulted and ignored and threatened are begging to help our citizens. We supported a coup in Venezuela. They're begging to give us a millioin dollars, doctors and rescue teams. Even Iran wants to help us.

[uppityperson]

32. wow

[Miss Chybil]

34. But, it's all the black people's fault!

/sarcasm

:grr:

[Geo55]

41. The Empiror has no clothes......

I suppose the media spin will try to stem the bleeding....
reality.....why can't we take care of OUR OWN ?.....
This is not the country I grew up in ....or was I totally mistaken?

[melody]

42. FINALLY the world press is getting it MAYBE

We're not pampered, arrogant citizens - we're the downtrodden majority of an evil elite.

[Kolesar]

44. Lots of Americans have been reveling in this "boot the Arabs" bloodlust

I first saw it uncorked with the 1991 Gulf War, and it was such a hit that the war party decided to make it a prime feature.

[samsingh]

45. the foreign press gets it

this is the security president who after 4 years of homeland security planning shows that they are unable to handle a large disaster.

[slay]

46. Can we FINALLY impeach this bastard yet?

This whole administration is the worst I've ever seen. :mad:

[soda]

47. the mask has slipped

And the world is given the view of a once great nation who´s liberty beacon said "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
now in the hands of *mierdas everything he touches turns to shit

[Massachusetts]

48. "reacted with disbelief"

WE The People will take care of OUR fellow citizens.

WE The People will clean up and rebuild.

WE The People will keep OUR economy moving.

WE The People WILL TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK FROM THE HANDS OF THE INEPT POLITICIANS THAT STOLE THEIR WAY INTO OUR GOVERNMENT!


DON'T EVER FORGET WHAT HAS HAPPENED.

[soda]

49. from what i see

good luck mate

[enid602]

51. *

I've been reading all morning that Katrina is Bush's Chernobyl. Ater reading these posts, I feel it might be his Falklands.

[Spazito]

52. Heres a scathing article from the Toronto Star:

Tales of woe shame a nation

NEW ORLEANS - Nature wrought destruction but human beings have brought disgrace.

It is disgraceful that countless people are still stranded five days after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf coastline, flattening communities and knocking a major metropolis on its ear.

snip

Could it be because the overwhelming majority of these dispossessed are poor and black that their very lives are apparently of less worth than business properties in the French Quarter, deluxe hotels on Canal St., chi-chi mansions in the Garden District, and tourist casinos on the riverfront?

Harrahs Casino, one of the largest and sturdiest buildings near the Riverwalk Palisade, barely damaged, has bolted its front doors, while scores of homeless families that might have taken temporary refuge therein are left to huddle on the torn-up grass, in the dripping humidity — and, yesterday afternoon, the deluge of another thunderstorm — waiting forlornly for promised evacuation buses that have yet to appear.

more

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1125611421566&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes

[newyorican]

53. A fucking disgrace...

Not only is the emperor naked...he's a dickless wonder.

[Logiola]

54. where's poland?