Bodies Are Strewn 'Like Roadkill'

[UpInArms]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bodies4sep04,1,3175939.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true

NEW ORLEANS — No one knew much about him. He was a black man with close-cropped hair who looked to be in his 40s. He had a high school class ring. He had been at the convention center for four days, no different from thousands of others.

<snip>

Until now, the nation has focused on the survivors. But at some point in coming days, as New Orleans continues to depopulate, the city will reach a tipping point. There may be more dead people here than living as the human exodus continues. And no one knows what will be done with the bodies.

<snip>

Until they are, the bodies continue to surface: on the steps of the Superdome; in the besieged 9th Ward; at an elementary school where a man's body washed up on the steps inside a basement classroom; under a freeway ramp next to a submerged SUV.

<snip>

The dilemma is not restricted to the civilian population. Watts said a distraught New Orleans police officer shot and killed himself at a staging area in Algiers, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans, on Friday night.

"We didn't even have a body bag to put him in," Watts said.

...more...

:cry:

[whistle]

1. Does anyone know if the armed National Guard has opened....

...fire on any of New Orleans surviors?

[liberaliraqvet26]

4. I really wish you guys would stop beating on the Guard....

the majority of guardsman want nothing more than to help. Just because their civilian leadership is unbelievably stupid doesn't make them trigger happy monsters. They did a great job yesterday evacuating the convention center and I-10. I agree it was 4 days too late, but our citizens soldiers are not to blame.

[whistle]

6. I'm only asking for facts, not beating on anyone....

...do you know the answer?

[leetrisck]

19. I agree with you - American soldiers are sure as hell

not anxious to fire on fellow Americans. We all want facts, but anything you hear now or reported is not necessarily fact. The Guard as is the military has civilian control which in this case, I don't know if that's good or bad because of the civilians running things.

[MADem]

23. I'm with you, all they want to do is HELP

The blame belongs with the leadership. Chimpy has FAILED TO LEAD.

FAILED TO LEAD!!!!!!!!

[kdmorris]

As far as I can tell

(And this only comes from media sources like CNN, so take it with a grain of salt.)

The "General" that was in charge told the NG coming in that this wasn't Baghdad and to point their weapons to the ground. (http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/honore.profile/index.html) As Mayor Nagin put it, this is the "John Wayne" dude.

I haven't heard of any violence from the NG, but, as with everything these days, that doesn't mean it didn't happen. However, with as many pissed off reporters as we had on the ground, I would tend to think there was no open firing or firing at all on the evacuees, or we WOULD have heard about it.

[Ms. Clio]

11. According to this Reuters article, they seem to have already killed one

Several residents of the impromptu shantytown recounted two horrific incidents where those charged with keeping people safe had killed them instead.

In one, a young man was run down and then shot by a New Orleans police officer, in another a man seeking help was gunned down by a National Guard soldier, witnesses said.

Police here refused to discuss or confirm either incident. National Guard spokesman Lt. Col Pete Schneider said "I have not heard any information of a weapon being discharged."

"They killed a man here last night," Steve Banka, 28, told Reuters. "A young lady was being raped and stabbed. And the sounds of her screaming got to this man and so he ran out into the street to get help from troops, to try to flag down a passing truck of them, and he jumped up on the truck's windshield and they shot him dead."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050903/ts_nm/weather_katrina_helpless_dc_1


(edited for clarity)

[fasttense]

2. And brush can't even put the flags at half mast for them. n/t

[kdmorris]

10. But...

Rehnquist, the Pope and the victims of the tsunami got the flag flown at half-mast in their honor. What screwed up priorities!!

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. I hope, for the sake of the survivors that documentation

of each and every body is required. Photo, location, ID if possible. DNA?

[babylonsister]

5. I heard days ago that no action could be taken

with the bodies until a medical examiner was involved; I wouldn't be surprised if that goes by the wayside as they realize the extent of the bodies to be recovered.

[whistle]

7. Another bureaucratic red tape speed bump!

[Tin Man]

8. After 5 days in this heat, bodies are already decomposing.

Carrion beetles, maggots, and vultures will reduce many of these to skeletons within the next few days, if not already.

In the event there's no identification (wallet, etc.) on the corpse, DNA evidence will be the only avenue remaining to identify the remains.

[IndyOp]

26. They will bury the bodies in a mass grave to try and hide

the true number that died from us. Think "Holocaust."

:nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

[leveymg]

9. There are thousands of bodies in the ruins.

What do you think they plan to do with the ruins?

They can do one of two things: 1) send in the National Guard to retrieve and identify every body, and then begin the $100 BILLION plus rebuilding job to restore what people had before, and then let the survivors return. Or, 2), there is a relatively cheap and easy way to deal with it. Bulldoze and burn everything but downtown and the more expensive (white) neighborhoods built on high ground. Which option do you think the Bushites will choose?

FEMA is going to issue a declaration federalizing the area, allowing them to carry out a slash and burn program on public health grounds. That will begin to happen in the next few weeks. This struggle with state and local authorities is the beginning of that program.

Of course, they won't allow most of the former residents (black) back in. That's why they need all those troops at this late date. It's to ring the city to prevent people from trying to interfere in the mass destruction of what's left.

[RazzleCat]

12. Can I just sit and cry yet?

I just can't take anymore. I live paycheck to paycheck. I can see my and my child in this situation. I just can't take anymore of this. I think I will go and refinish my floors and hug my kid. Time to turn off the news and hide.

[leveymg]

13. Don't despair - get good and mad. That's the only response that will

save us all from being destroyed by the psychopaths who have taken over the federal government. You are not alone. If we organize, we can prevail in this struggle for national survival.

We can all grieve later, after the job is done.:grouphug: :cry: :hug: :kick: :dunce:

[PCIntern]

15. There are no bodies here....whatsamatta u?

didn't you know? They're corpses from all the cemeteries washed up. Just keep moving...nothing happening here....

That's what the first reports were if I can remember which lies went with which pictures. It's getting harder and harder with the ex-Pravda folks now in high gear.

[leftchick]

14. I really do not believe that horror scenario will happen

Blanc has stopped the feds brilliantly yesterday from a total takeover. There is no fucking way the NO mayor would let his city get bulldozed without a huge blowup on TV for the world to see. The FEDs most assuredly want to hide those bodies. The people of the city and state won't let it happen.

[leveymg]

16. I hope you are right. But, unless a large number in Congress stand

up and oppose federalization, I believe that will be the most likely course of events.

It would take a reversal of the entire BushCo program -- the abandonment of tax cuts, diversion of spending to the military -- to rebuild the Gulf Coast region, properly.

The American people are rising up because the Bush Administration will refuse to make the hard choices needed to do the decent, the right thing.

[booksenkatz]

18. They sifted thru WTC asbestos for wedding rings and teeth

It will be interesting to see the effort they give this time to make sure that every single bit of human flesh is identified, transported respectfully under salute by rescuers, and then buried lovingly by family members.

[aquart]

20. They will dump them in mass graves.

Getting a body count for Katrina will mean digging up those graves LATER like South American countries had to do.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

17. And they'll resell the land.

Prime land. See their mouths watering?

[FlaGranny]

22. My husband and I were talking this morning about this.

All those flooded houses, to be repaired, would have to be stripped to the frames. They are contaminated so badly that they can't just be claned up. It becomes a question of which would be cheaper, tearing down the homes completely or trying to repair them. In any case, the homeowners should decide, not FEMA.

[fortyfeetunder]

28. What worries me about the rebuild

is those new homes will be prohibitively expensive...thus shutting out the original residents....

[daleo]

24. That does sound quite possible

It would be the cheap solution, and it is the kind of thinking that caused the problem in the first place. There is something deeply, deeply sick at work.

[babylonsister]

21. Need one more nom. This needs to get up front for

everyone to see.

[fooj]

25. I'm not sure that those people wearing OUR UNIFORMS

are actually Americans. I'm not convinced.

Peace.

[NorthernSpy]

27. where are all the people who were so heartbroken over stolen TVs?

Bodies all over the place, and some people busy weeping for WalMart...

:eyes: