Baghdad on the Bayou
Here’s how MSM coverage might sound if they extrapolated New Orleans to the USA the way they do Baghdad to Iraq: The United States remained in chaos yesterday in the aftermath of its worst catastrophe since 9-11. Baghdad on the Bayou was said to be out of control as looters and insurgents marauded unchecked by US military or local police. The Brahmin north of America and the Hispanic regions in the west were said to have less violence, but these reports were unconfirmed. Meanwhile the Redneck Triangle of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were under ineffective martial law. Critics said that the Bush administration’s arrogant inaction on global warming and total lack of post-storm planning had come together to produce unprecedented devastation, etc.
Death, damage, chaos….
Hellish scenes of death, damage, and chaos wracked the U.S. Gulf Coast on Wednesday as overwhelmed authorities tried to rescue the living and count the dead amid the destruction left by powerful Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans was filling with water after an initial attempt to stop a leaking levee failed, while police fought a losing battle to stop widespread looting in the stricken city…..
Wild scenes of looting erupted around the city as people broke into stores to grab supplies, but also television sets, jewelry, clothes and computers. In some areas, gun-toting citizens took to the streets to try to restore order. Where it was still dry, store owners were seen sitting in front of their businesses, guns in hand. One had put up a sign: “You loot, I shoot,” it said. Authorities were so intent on rescuing flood victims that at first they chose to let the looting go unstopped, said Nagin.
AP:
At least 300 Shiite pilgrims were killed during a religious procession when a railing on a bridge collapsed, sending scores into the Tigris River, a police commander said. One official said the toll could rise to more than 600…..Four mortar rounds slammed into the crowd, killing three and wounding at least 35, police Maj. Falah Al-Mohammdawi said. A military statement said U.S. Apache helicopters fired on the attackers after observing the rocket launches. In Saadoun Street, a large tent was erected where volunteers distributed water, juices and food to the those arriving from outside the capital…..
Meanwhile, eyewitnesses said the town of Qaim, 200 miles northwest of Baghdad, was quiet and virtually deserted Wednesday after a day of heavy fighting between the pro-government Bumahl tribe and the pro-insurgent Karabilah tribe. Iraqi officials said 45 people had died in the clashes, during which hundreds of residents fled their homes and took refuge in the surrounding countryside.
We do not mean to minimize the really terrible conditions in New Orleans and elsewhere. But when we read some of it, we wonder if the United States needs its own Chrenkoff.
August 31st, 2005 at 12:38 pm
It doesn’t help that all of the MSM are covering that disaster as if it were the only thing going on. Even Fox News Channel is doing continuous coverage, as if the whole thing is being produced for our entertainment pleasure. The idiots. All they’re doing is endlessly repeating the obvious while waiting/hoping something else bad will happen. Just watch, the death toll will have the focus while stories of survival will be ingnored — at least until the death toll meme looses its effect.