Greens Warn of Growing 'Iraqification' of New Orleans

[nosmokes]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 11, 2005
10:09 AM


CONTACT:  Green Party
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, [e-mail] Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805,
[e-mail]


 

Greens Warn of Growing 'Iraqification' of New Orleans

 
WASHINGTON - Green Party leaders urged Congress and all Americans to reject the White House's intention to turn New Orleans and all disaster areas into zones of military control, weakened human rights protections and oversight of federal agencies, and corporate profiteering similar to occupied Iraq.

"The treatment of New Orleans' poorest, especially African Americans, has already been widely reported and is now a national shame, as is the ineptitude of Mayor Nagin's office, FEMA, and other government bodies whose poor preparation and delayed response helped turn the city into a ruin," said Romi Elnagar, Acting Secretary of the Green Part of Louisiana. "But we've also witnessed a new pattern, of policies and actions that have turned New Orleans into a war zone all too similar to occupied Iraq."

On September 26, The Washington Post reported President Bush's plan to place the Pentagon in charge of disaster response, making such policies permanent and eliminating Posse Comitatus restraints against using the military for domestic civilian law enforcement.

Greens noted several indications of the 'Iraqification' of New Orleans:

. Incursion by Blackwater and other private security forces, which already have contracts to provide security in Iraq; such firms are not held to the same standards of accountability as service members of the U.S. Armed Forces.

. The cruel neglect of prisoners in Louisiana, documented by Human Rights Watch and the ACLU , during the hurricane and its aftermath, with inmates locked in cells as floodwaters rose, deaths, and inmates still missing -- recalling official toleration and encouragement of prisoner abuses in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and Afghanistan.

. No-bid rebuilding contracts for companies like Halliburton/KBR, which have already profiteered to the tune of billions off the Iraq invasion and occupation, with similar no-bid contracts; award of federal contracts to favored white-owned firms and disregard by FEMA for requirements that contracts go to some minority businesses. According to The Wall Street Journal on September 23, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson said that "his staff has been unable to locate any federal contracts for Mississippi that went to minority firms".... "During a recent New Orleans City Council hearing... a half-dozen minority business owners said they were being left out of the rebuilding effort, and Council President Oliver Thomas told Mayor Ray Nagin that he was living in 'Neverland' for thinking black businessmen would receive a significant number of government contracts."

. President Bush's appointment of White House advisor Karl Rove -- an administration 'crony' with no known expertise in urban policy or engineering (and who has been implicated in the Valerie Plame scandal) -- to supervise the rebuilding of New Orleans.

. Cuts proposed by Republicans, eliminating as much as $40 billion from Medicare and other social spending to pay for clean-up -- just as they diverted funding from social programs for the military venture in Iraq. "Elderly people who lost their homes and health care providers as a result of the hurricane will bear the brunt of the Medicare cuts," said Leenie Halbert, acting co-chair of the Green Party of Louisiana. "The failure to protect and care for people whose lives have been devastated by the hurricane the repeats to failure to protect and care for soldiers and their families most affected by the war "

. Proposed suspension of environmental protections, with a waiver of EPA rules, in areas hit by Katrina, comparable to the disregard of the environment in war zones.

"President Bush's recent proposal to federalize the National Guard in response to the bird flu threat are consistent with his exploitation of environmental disasters like Katrina and human conflicts like 9/11," said Nan Garrett, Georgia Green Party Co-Chair and Spokesperson of National Women's Caucus. "Crises like Katrina should be an opportunity, not only to provide relief, but to uphold all that's best about America and our concern for people hit by misfortune. Instead, we're seeing an unprecedented effort to centralize power, allow crony corporations to make a killing, and undermine constitutional and environmental protections."

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1700 Connecticut Avenue NW,
Suite 404
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191,
866-41GREEN
Fax [phone]

"Bush Urges Shift in Relief Responsibilities: Congress Asked to Consider Placing Pentagon in Charge of Disaster Response" By Jim VandeHei and Josh White, The Washington Post, September 26, 2005

"Blackwater Down: The frightening -- and possibly illegal -- presence of heavily armed private forces in New Orleans only demonstrates what everyone already feared: the utter breakdown of the government." By Jeremy Scahill, The Nation, posted September 22, 2005

"Storms in the Gulf: Minorities Say Katrina Work Flows to Others" By Yochi J. Dreazen and Jeff D. Opdyke, The Wall Street Journal, September 23, 2005

"GOP seeks cuts to ease cost of cleanup: Plan targets Medicaid, other social programs" By Rick Klein, The Boston Globe, October 1, 2005

"Greens Condemn EPA Rule Waiver After Katrina" Press release, September 21, 2005, Green Party of Louisiana

Green Party relief efforts for areas hit by Hurricane Katrina http://www.gp.org/katrina2005/

###

[moobu2]

1. The Greens are a day late and a dollar short.

Sounds like a rehash of old news.

[EFerrari]

19. Nope, they just keep putting out the word the press refuses

to pick up.

The earliest and best info I got from NO was from my Greens there, fyi.

[BL611]

2. Why should the Greens have any problem

with the man they helped elect president?

[moobu2]

3. ding ding ding.

Exactly. They may as well have told their followers to vote for *.

[nosmokes]

6. har!

yeah, blame bush on the greens. it's a whole lot easier than maybe looking at problems with a democratic party that no longer stands for anything, that no longer represents the working class or the environment or opposes illegal wars, even. i suppose that's a green party conspiracy , too huh? what'd we do, tie up al the democratic pols and keep 'em away from crawford and operation ceasefire?

[IndianaGreen]

12. What are the Democrats doing about it?

Ding, ding, ding back to you!

[Gyre]

13. Dood, get over it!

You can place blame all you want but do you really want to continue to lose? The Greens have been far more useful to democracy lately than the mainstream democratic party. For instance, they fought consistantly for recounts in 2004 before and long after Kerry threw in the towel. Further, I know you can't be referring to 2004 so perhaps you're just trolling about Nader in 2000 and nobody could've forseen that outcome which was stolen by the repiglican supreeem cort in any case. :grouphug:

Gyre

[EFerrari]

20. Yeah, the GREENS rigged the 2000 election.

:eyes:

/4am typin

[OKthatsIT]

4. EXACTLY! I would gladly VOTE GREEN over spineless Dems!

And I agree completely with the IRAQIFICATION of New Orleans.

The Dems have done NOTHING for the Govenor and Mayor of NOLA. All of the Dem voters have been displaced against their will...so what does that say to Dems? Ignore these displaced people?

[BL611]

5. ???

Was this supposed to be sarcastic?

[mom cat]

7. There have been some notable exceptions to what you are saying, but the

Dem response has not risen to the occasion. Nothing has laid bare the multitude of life and death issues at stake and the Dems should be shouting in unison from the rooftops.while they might still have the ear of America. Next November might be too late.

[OKthatsIT]

27. Dont hold your breath...waiting for Dems to stand by THE PEOPLE

....the Dems have renedered themselves USELESS. And my position on the issues are to the left of ....of....nothing.

I will vote for Dems who have been actively FIGHTING THE NEOCONS. The Black Caucus, Wellstone folks, and Dennis Kucinich's people.

THATS IT.....allo the others are a JOKE

[moobu2]

8. And what would the Greens do?

Issue stupid ineffective powerless statements like the one in the starter thread? Big deal.

[noiretextatique]

9. if they were in the senate or the house

i doubt they'd be as indistinguishable from republicans as are some democrats. but, since there are no greens in the senate or the house, i suppose we will have to keep waiting for democrats to do something significant. perhaps the DLC will issue another offensive statement about the insignificance of liberals and the traditional democratic base.

[TheWraith]

14. If you really believe Dems and Reps are the same...

Then please, for sanity's sake, get out of politics and never look back.

A cursory look at voting records would tell you that the most conservative Dem is far, far better on any criteria than the most moderate Republican. McCain has a 9% lifetime rating from Americans for Democratic Action; Lieberman had a 77% rating. Most Republicans hover close to zero; most Democrats are in the upper 80s and lower 90s. If you don't see a difference there, I suggest that you open your eyes.

Or, put another way, do you seriously believe that any Democratic president would ever behave the way Bush has?

[IndianaGreen]

16. How many of them voted for the Bankruptcy bill, or CAFTA, or NAFTA,?

How many of them voted for DOMA and for abortion restrictions, or voted for the war, PATRIOT, Plan Colombia, and continuing the embargo on Cuba?

Clearly, when it comes to votes that affect our lives, the ludicrous ratings from the reactionary and former liberal ADA don't amount to a pile of beans.

[EFerrari]

21. Ah, those stupid ineffective powerless statements show

more spine than anyone else I see tracking NO.

And yes, it is a big deal when the grassroots insist on the truth.

[OKthatsIT]

26. Greens would practice what they preached and PREACH LOUDLY

I would rather support the people who support my position...Dems do NOT.

[VegasWolf]

10. I agree I'm afraid. The lieberman dems have turned me off. the only

current dem worth a damn is dean. i am totally ready for any good 3rd party!

[electricray]

15. We can't have a third party in America unless we adopt instant runoff

Otherwise we run the risk of having a minority of the population selcting the President. It worked out well for us when Clinton beat Perot and Bush, but it definitely bit us when Bush "beat" Nader and Gore. Even though we know that 2000 and 2004 were illegitimate, the math still works the same. Even if we marketed and led to victory a truly inspiring candidate for a Progressive party I wouldn't feel right if someone who was elected by less than half of the population. The risk of having an ineffectual presidency is very high regardless of who wins.

[IndianaGreen]

17. Electoral College must be abolished and Congress must be reformed

Ironic that the US is the least democratic of all the Western nations, yet it trumpets itself as a "shining city on the hill," as that idiot Reagan used to say.

[pro_blue_guy]

18. WE ARE BETTER OFF WITH MORE THAN TWO POLITICAL PARTIES IMHO

[usafguy99]

23. I agree completly... but it's never going to happen unless we

completly reform the way we do elections. Extreme parties may gain a foothold in many European countries because of the way they assign seats in their legislatures but as long as it stays "winner take all" here in the US no smaller parties will ever win an election. Sure it might feel good to pull the lever that says "Green Party" on it but what effect does it have on the election?

Should people "waste" their votes on the Green's or any other far-left party and help the Republicans win more elections or should they vote for the major party (i.e. Democrats) that at least has some of the same beliefs?

[newyawker99]

25. Hi usafguy99!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. It's easy to bash the Greens, but it's not justifiable until...

the Democrats come out and say the same things.

Where the hell are they?

[0007]

22. "Car 54 where are YOU"

[Cults4Bush]

24. Well you can hate on the Greens all you want doesn't change the facts

that what they said here is the truth.

I know a lot of Dems have picked up on one or two or three of the things stated in this press release but have the Dems put out something similar on a somewhat united front? Not trashing up on Dems here but I think it is useless to use this as an attack against greens most of whom we want to vote with us (that is if there is any kind of reform to make it worthwhile).

I see attacks on Greens all the time ostensibly from some of the same people who insist that Dems chase the middle no matter how far right it has moved. I dont know if any of the above posters fit that category and if not than I point out the first line of my post to you all once more.

To this Dem it looks like hypocrisy, it looks like agenda over people... again. We need allies wherever we can find them just so long as they are not worse than those we aim to take down (i.e. white power racist types).

[Earth_First]

28. 'Iraqification'

Please. Is New Orleans under favorable conditions? Certainly not. However it's the emotional branding of situations like these <"Iraqification" of New Orleans> that make third-party political parties appear 'kooky' and 'fringe'. New Orleans is nothing like Iraq.

Period.