National Guard has shoot-to-kill orders (for "looters")

[freeplessinseattle]

zero tolerance, like our great leader said. sorry if a dupe, didn't see it in greatest or on the abc/nbc nighttime, just now on local news.

I'm seriously ill

[bliss_eternal]

1. (sigh) I'm absolutely speechless...

:cry:

[LisaL]

2. Looks like finally we got to liberating our own people.

[ispeculate]

3. My question is...who are they supposed to shoot to kill? And under what

circumstances? Kill everybody in sight? Unless the press is there with cameras they can go in there and indiscriminately kill everyone.

[gatorboy]

4. It's very sad.

These poor guys all just got back from Iraq seeing some of the worst shit possible and now they're being ordered to shoot Americans.

And this isn't a pro-criminal rant, I just see a problem here with the wording. They're not being ordered to shoot "murderers" or "rapists". They're being ordered to shoot looters. Who as we've seen on TV, are not all stealing for profit but for survival.

[NightOwwl]

5. This should chill you to the bone...

From ABC Primetime, here is the word-for-word text of his comments regarding looters.

Diane Sawyer: "Many of them going in have said, we are only going in because we are desperate; we need shoes to walk around in because our feet are being cut. We need food for our children.

Bush: <attempts to talk over Diane's question> Uh-I-I-I

Sawyer: What's justified and what's not?

Bush: <insert smirk and roll-eyes here> I think there ought to be zero tolerance of people breaking the law for an emergency such as this.

He was prepping for this. He's made it clear it's OK to take them all out.

[madrchsod]

9. remember bush is not in charge

the governor and the la. national guard is. federal troops can only follow the orders of the la national guard who is under the control of the governor.rummy has to sign over the federal troops to the la. national guard.

[madrchsod]

6. ok let`s not get to weird

if they are stealing food or water they won`t get shot. if they are doing anything else they will be shot, civilians that are armed and refuse orders will be shot. if they are harming others or breaking into hospitals,they will be shot....that is the way it is.

[puddycat]

7. I'm sick to death of all this pro-criminal talk

it absolutely disgusts me. I was trying to understand it, but it is getting old and tired. As a city resident myself, I can quite imagine the terror of having to put up with a city where gangs of thugs are looting and raping and breaking into places. In that situation if I was threatened I would shoot to kill these people myself--gladly. Fuck them. Fuck the criminal element. I am sick of people defending them. Very few of the looters and rioting assholes I have seen on tv and feeds on the internet were of people taking necessities. They were pillaging thugs. People are being raped and killed and murdered in New Orleans, and by people condoning this lawless behavior of looting they only add fuel to the fire of anarchy.

Damn it.

[Solon]

10. Question, where do you see that?

I thought the reverse is true, I see very few people stealing TVs, most are taking what they need to survive, food, water, clothing, etc. Do you call these people thugs because they are mostly black?

[SofaKingLiberal]

11. uh

- Very few of the looters and rioting assholes I have seen on tv and feeds on the internet were of people taking necessities.


Have you been watching FOX?

Because I have seen tons of footage of people taking food, clothes and diapers. The roaming gangs who are raping and walking around with 60' plasma TVs are in the minority, I assure you.

If someone threatens a guardsmen with a gun, then of course he should be dealt with. But don't buy the administrations shit when they try to tell you that most of the looters are criminals who should be shot.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4568012&mesg_id=4568012

edit- goddamnit

[oasis]

13. "Very few...I have seen...were taking necessities". Common sense would

tell you that people would have to take food and water in order to survive. If these folks would have waited for Chimpyboy's FEMA corps for relief, half would be dead by now. You can call it "anarchy" but voluntary starvation is "idiocy".

[NorthernSpy]

18. you want people dead for eating stale pop-tarts in a soggy grocery store?

Some of this stuff is due to the criminal element, of course. But much of the looting is just desperate people scavenging for anything that might conceivably prove useful. A lot of us DO see a distinction to be drawn here, even if you don't.

[Dr Fate]

8. Can we have complete verification for this- or a link?

?

[Rhiannon12866]

12. I heard this, this afternoon on CNN. Made my blood run cold, too.

They said that the Guard that they were bringing in were just back from Iraq, with orders to "shoot to kill," and that they would...;(

[Contrary1]

14. I saw an interview with a Guardsman earlier...

he pretty much said he wouldn't be shooting anyone trying to get food or water.

[Rhiannon12866]

16. Thank you. This only makes sense.

That seems to have been the general consensus, and exactly what was happening, until things got out of hand. I did think it was fear-mongering, when I heard this (and it's not like the looters have access to cable news :crazy: ), and probably I should have said so, but that's what they said.:-(

[applegrove]

15. Psy-ops guys. They have to blow smoke to make themselves out

to be the biggest and baddest things the violence food-chain as ever seen.

Remember the few real criminals have psychological control of the city. If the psychological warfare makes them drop their guns and cut & run tonight..then maybe some people will get rescued from under rubble or from an attic at dawn.

This is a common tool of the military. Just like a Humvee. Only they let it loose early - to get the few real criminals shaking..and then they arrive and psychologically dominate the city.

Should have happened on Monday. Will save lives the sooner the criminals hide. Looters (who nobody really considers real criminals at this point) should not be out on the street at night anyway. Too dangerous. Rapes & murders.

So once the really bad apples have been turned into big chichens (when faced with actual opposition) then the rescue workers can get back their psychological wearwithall and go out and save lives.

[moondust]

17. This is unnecessary force/overreaction/overkill. eom

[RummyTheDummy]

19. Well we have at least one DUer who is fine with it.....

It's amazing some of the whack jobs who show up on the night shift.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4572979&mesg_id=4573345