So the NG played cards instead of getting off their asses.

[xultar]

Who woulda thunk. No wonder they were trying so hard to blame the NOLA PD saying they abandoned their jobs.

They wanted to get that story out first.

I would abandon if I couldn't get the NG to get off their asses and help me.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/usweatherpolice

[mitchtv]

1. who was caring for their families?

How were they to feed them? I would reluctantly leave too

[Horse with no Name]

2. That's exactly what some of the evacuees are saying

:(

[txindy]

3. This quote is such a remarkable smackdown:

"For 72 hours this police department and the fire department and handful of citizens were alone rescuing people. We have people who died while the National Guard sat and played cards. I understand why we are not winning the war in Iraq if this is what we have."

Ouch.

Adding: I believe he is referencing the leadership of the NG not ordering them into action, NOT the competency of the NG troops themselves. He's a police commander. He knows where the orders come from.

[Spazito]

4. This just gets more and more disgusting

I notice the NG head doesn't dispute that his guards were playing cards, not helping, I find that very interesting.

[Karmakaze]

5. What a bullshit excuse!

Blum said any suggestion that the National Guard had not performed well or was late was a "low blow".

The initial priority of the Louisiana and Mississippi National Guard forces was disaster relief, not law enforcement, because they expected the police to handle that, he said.

Ok, I could have believed that excuse IF - and it is an ENORMOUS IF - if those NG troops had instead been handing out food and water and evacuating people.

THAT would have been "disaster relief".

But they weren't. So if they weren't enforcing the law, and they weren't providing "disaster relief" then WTF were they doing?

[xultar]

6. KICK!!!

[OneBlueSky]

7. now that they have all of these troops in NO (and more on the way) . . .

shouldn't they be conducting house to house searches for survivors? . . . there are still many stranded in houses, offices, and public buildings, and their time is fast running out . . . instead of just standing around "projecting a show of force," shouldn't the troops be doing something to help save lives? . . .

[xultar]

8. Absofuckinglutely they should but they aren't.

[spuddonna]

9. Yeah this stuff makes me want to scream out the window...

But these NG sitting there, was it cause they were in dereliction of duty? Or were they ordered to stand-down?