[Bloquez l'empire!] In New Orleans, Thus Sept 8

[Bloquez l'empire]

From: "Scott Weinstein" <scott.weinstein at sympatico.ca>

> Hello,
>
> This is just an attempt to quickly scribble down some impressions and an
evaluation of the situation from my isolated perspective. Because of
pressing time and the fact that I am in a room without permission under
control of Blackwater Security, and I just accidentaly lost everything I
wrote....
>
> Been in N.O. for two days, ironically, got a lift here on an ambulance
with a detail to help provide vaccinations & medical care to some of the
security forces in the city. From a medical perspective, there is little to
do here, so I will leave. There is a clinic in the Sheraton, controlled by
Blackwater, and housing them, the Immigration police, and the New Orleans
city police. The city is under a soft form of a state of seige - or let's
just say that that you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a soldier or
cop (that's a southern expression).
>
> However, it is so fucked up. Bush has promised "boots on the ground" in a
public relations effort to show he is doing something, but soldiers are not
priority - this is a humanitarian & environmental disaster, not a war - or
it shouldn't be a war. I will go over the absurd lack of common sense in the
post-disaster planning and execution later.
>
> It is quite safe to walk around the city, despite the paranoia of the news
media and the armed forces. Or let's say that it's a typical American city
that has been emptied of most of it's residents. Sometimes I think I am
watching a scene from Iraq - all the streets are being swept repeatedly by
heavily armed cop cars from all states, the N.O.P.D., the FBI, and the Armed
Forces. But the streets are not being sweeped by brooms, and that is a
priority because the uncollected fetid trash is a bacterial breeding ground.
So if disease is a rationale for evacuating the dry areas, well, clean up
the garbage! No brainer there. Not one garbage truck has entered the city,
but ambulances, police cars, humvees and vans with tinted windows and
emergency lights from all over the country are patrolling.
>
> I call it a military Woodstock, and when I ask them what they are doing
here, they mention that "everybody wants to get in on this" or protecting
(each other) or providing security. However, when I ask the N.O. police
about the actual violence and threats, they say that while N.O.is a very
violent city generally, most of the isolated violence happened before last
Thursday BEFORE any other military or other police departments showed up.
The outside security forces say that there is rampent violence continuing .
>
> Regardless, most of the individual guys who are heavily armed are decent
and they are actually friendly to the residents - offering them food and
bottled water. Those doing search and rescue are very dedicated to saving
people. Last night, some soldiers told me how happy they were to rescue a
family of 6 from their flooded home. Some understand that it would be better
that they did not have a forced evacuation, but that if people must leave,
that civilians should interact with the residents.
>
> Most of the few remaining residents I've met can be placed into three
groups. In the French Quarter which is above water, there are 'middle class'
whites who emerged after a week, citing security fears for them remaining
inside. Then there are poor whites and black who simple don't want to leave
because this is THEIR city, and why should they leave. Some are homeless, or
extremely destitute and desperately poor. Yet most that I met were resistant
to the idea of being forced out.
>
> In the areas that are flooded, (at least the edges where I could walk or
ride in an ambulance) everyone remaining is black and equally poor. There is
such a stark in-your-face jolt of poverty and race here in a major American
city, that even the soldiers here are shaking their heads.
>
> I spent half the day yesterday helping or persuading people to leave -
using an ambulance as a taxi. Most of the folks we took were old and infirm.
Rumor from various military forces was that today, the law would change and
forced evacuations would begin. We told people that coming with us was a
better deal with us than with the guys with guns, and that they should bring
ID, addreses of family & friends, and a change of clothes. Half had no ID or
addresses... Fortunately, the military was letting people bring their pets,
so that was a relief for some. But still, the evacuation procedures at this
point are being controlled by the guys with guns. Today, I think we may have
made a mistake. The atmosphere seems more relaxed, and there isn't the
rumours of a forced evacuation.
>
> Maybe people can stay, or maybe it could turn ugly. The worst thing would
be for New Orleans to be under Marshal Law, with no independent media and
observers to prevent a secret & bloody military operation. Whatever, Bush
seems to only know one tune - Military Rules.
>
> People are being evacuated two ways - they can get a private ride out, or
they can got to the Convention Center (again!). New Orleans business oweners
are allowed back in to check out or secure their place.
>
> While the convention center is closed,& all the stinking trash is outside,
people (remember these are the poor) are first lined up in the hot sun
across the street. (I asked the medical staff to get more tents for shade
for the folks - tents that are being stored at the near-by Louis Armstrong
Airport that people are being evacuated to.)
>
> Then evacuees get frisked, bags (if they have any) searched by military,
go through a medical triage if they need assistance, then board a Blackhawk
helicopter for a deafening 15 minute ride to the airport. While the 'copter
crew and I would stare out the open windows for a view of the devastation,
the evacuees are huddled on the metal floor staring like a deer in the
headlights. At the airport, they sit on the baggage carriers and get towed
into a terminal, walk past more security and up to the second triage medical
area with impressive MASH tent setups.
>
> By that time, the evacuees seem stunned - some are just flattened by the
fact that one hour ago they were in their homes, and now after a crazy ride
they are being asked to choose where in the state or country they want to go
according to the limited options of departing buses and planes. Within an
hour, they are gone...
>
> I really fear that they will be lost and forgotten soon. There is an
attempt by one Louisiana social service worker to record them, but most just
get into a bus or plane and off they go to whatever un-coordinated place
they go to next. On the positive side, New Orleaneans are a proud group, and
if anyone will hone back to their city, it would be them.
>
> When I last wrote 4 days ago, I mentioned the lack of coordination between
various agencies and facilities. This is still a major problem. No one has
any coherent idea what will happen to a survivor who evacuates to a
government or charity facility down the line of steps. None of these
evacuees are given any money - just bottled water, food and sometimes
donated clothes. Information is unreliable.
>
> I liken the execution of this disaster response to fire fighting. Most of
the time, fire fighters sit around, cook, eat, shoot the shit, and train.
But they are paid for the rare times they have to fight a fire. Once in a
blue moon, they have to coordinate with other fire houses and fight a major
fire. Regardless, they are prepared, trained, supplied and have a plan. They
don't wait for the house to start burning before stocking their fire engines
or figuring out what they should do.
>
> The levees of New Orleans was the third highest risk of a disaster in the
US according to the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). Yet they and
Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) which they are now under, ONLY sat around a
shot the shit, while eating up billions of dollars for security prevention
and response. That's why New Orleans is flooded with military.
>
> One DHS official coordinating the response told me yesterday that they
were ordered to take FEMA off their badges and vehiculs because the country
is so angry at FEMA. When I asked him what he thought of that, he said "FEMA
is a bunch of fucking shit." A doctor I work with coined a new joke. What's
the Cajun expression for "Go Fuck Yourself" - "You'll have to clear that
with FEMA".
>
> Regardless, FEMA, like most of the rescue people and managers I have met,
are composed of well meaning people, but the top management is incompetent.
>
> The disaster response is federally, state and locally managed. From my
perspective, they have the resources, but not the common sense. They ignore
the basic ABC's of organizing a rapid response that any of us who have
organized a demonstration are aware of:
> Coordination, Mobilization, Supplies, and Goals. For Katrina, there was
(and still is) no adequate coordination between the various agencies. The
supplies came late, and in the case of the missing garbage trucks verses
flood of guns and rifles, are not always appropriate. The mobilization is
inappropriate - this post 9-11 disaster is defined as a security operation
or a war, and the mobilization is of soldiers, cops and mercenaries along
with church charity organizations. But the civilian/non-armed government
volunteers and skilled workers are not being allowed into New Orleans
without military approval.
>
> Also, the hierarchical and authoritarian structure of the government means
that there is a lot of orders that are being followed because people HAVE to
follow them - against their better judgement.
>
> Simply put, the wrong agencies are being asked to do the job, because this
country is so incredibly militarized at the expense of civil infrastructure.
Most problems respond poorly to a war response.
>
> Some things are working well: By and large, everyone WANTS to help. The
civilian volunteers like myself are able to get around well and get involved
if they take initiative and are ready to hustle or bullshit their way
through the bureaucratic roadblocks. The New Orleans police, firefighters,
ambulance crews and hospital workers really did work for 5 days straight on
hardly any sleep. Pets are being rescued and sheltered. There is free
medical care and free food. Among the people here, there is a sense of
community and solidarity - even across the politically antagonistic mix of
soldiers, federal police and humanitarian volunteers. Some immigration
officers who fly immigrants out of the US to where-ever (including Comair
renditions) where happy to wear a different hat helping people. No one
pretends that the organized response isn't fucked up.
>
> So, now the challenges are multiple - first the larger issue of dealing
with poverty and racism that makes this evacuation into a humanitarian
disaster - why were the evacuees housed in the stadium and convention center
when huge hotels in the dry French Quarter were available? The government is
paying for hotels to house the security forces - but not the evacuees. How
come the evacuees are STILL being crowded en mass into facilities when there
are millions of homes in America that can board one or two or a whole
family - segregation under the veneer of rescue?
>
> From a technical view, the challenge is to demilitarize disaster rescue,
and ensure competent management of the civil response.
>
> People fear the government will opportunisticly use Katrina like 9-11 to
further militarize and privatize. We can't let it happen.
>
> best,
> Scott