Navy ship nearby underused (a must read)

[Lori Price CLG]

Navy ship nearby underused (a must read)


Navy ship nearby underused --Craft with food, water, doctors needed orders

ON THE USS BATAAN -- While federal and state emergency planners scramble to get more military relief to Gulf Coast communities stricken by Hurricane Katrina, a massive naval goodwill station has been cruising offshore, underused and waiting for a larger role in the effort.

The USS Bataan, a 844-foot ship designed to dispatch Marines in amphibious assaults, has helicopters, doctors, hospital beds, food and water. It also can make its own water, up to 100,000 gallons a day. And it just happened to be in the Gulf of Mexico when Katrina came roaring ashore.

The Bataan rode out the storm and then followed it toward shore, awaiting relief orders. Helicopter pilots flying from its deck were some of the first to begin plucking stranded New Orleans residents.

<snip>

Lori Price

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509040369sep04,1,4144825.story

[Lindsay]

1. Hello, Rummy?

What the hell are you waiting for?

[Lori Price CLG]

2. Well, there were no oil pipelines to protect, so he was MIA. n/t

[acmavm]

3. More poor people to die. Get as many of them out of the way as

possible.

[sallyseven]

4. He is waiting for his demander in chief

to get off his butt and give an order. Some on has to tell him what to do. He is not capable of understanding or comprehending what is going on. Radio address yesterday blame the local officials. They all told him over the last 5 years that the levee could break. FEMA should be a government program and not a way to privatize people's misery. Let the Red Cross in. Chernhoff and Brown are useless. The Incompetent one is not fit to be president.

[Lori Price CLG]

5. Or, the Commander in Thief, in this particular case, LOL! n/t

[bananas]

6. Did they get this BBC video clip yet?

This was posted yesterday, did anyone get the video clip yet?

"We had the USS Baton sailing almost behind the hurricane so that after the hurricane made landfall it's search and rescue helicopters would be available almost immediately. So we had things ready. The only caveat is, we have to wait until the President authorizes us to do so."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4605183&mesg_id=4605183

drm604 (686 posts) Sat Sep-03-05 11:14 AM

On BBC: Northern Command was in position, waiting for Presidential orders.

<snip>
K: NorthCom started planning before the storm even hit. We were ready for the storm when it hit Florida because, as you remember, it crossed the bottom part of Florida, and then we were plaining, you know, once it was pointed towards the Gulf Coast. So what we did was we activated what we call defense coordinating officers to work with the state to say okay, what do you think you'll need, and we set up staging bases that could be started. We had the USS Baton sailing almost behind the hurricane so that after the hurricane made landfall it's search and rescue helicopters would be available almost immediately. So we had things ready. The only caveat is, we have to wait until the President authorizes us to do so. The laws of the United States say that the military can't just act in this fashion, we have to wait for the President to give us permission.
<snip>

[SaveAmerica]

7. THANK YOU!!! What I've been looking for all morning, I could Kiss

you!! "It just happened to be in the gulf"!!! I have visions of a huge cartoon ship standing upright, hands in pockets, whistling as it moseys along the gulf. AAAAARGH!!!
Thanks again,
:*

[SaveAmerica]

8. kickin

:kick: