People Dying as the World Watches

I promised myself I wasn't going to blog on the hurricane. It's a very touchy subject, and I certainly don't want to say something offensive about the situation.

But, in the aftermath of the storm, I have made a few observations.

First of all, Wednesday night NBC Nightly News caught up with tourists in the Bayou area. These tourists expressed concern that they we forgotten, that the rescuers were not working hard enough to get them out of the area.

I say, too bad. OK, that's mean, but let's think about this. We have a family of four from Boston, who chose to go to New Orleans. Surely these people had heard the storm was coming. They could have altered their plans-- cancelled the trip, left early, or evacuated with everyone else. They chose to put themselves in this situation. They are alive, their possessions are in Boston, and they had a chance to leave-- they are not a priority. The priority is on those who have lost everything, those who had nowhere to go, and those who must now rebuild their lives.

Secondly, we need to think about who normally responds to emergency situations like these. Who comes to the aid to the areas raveged by natural disaters? Who keeps the peace and enforces martial law? The National Guard. Where are they? In Afghanistan.

OK, I understand, they are overseas fighting the terrorists, hoping to remove a daily fear from out lives. But the National Guard (and the Army Reserves) do not have the primary job of fighting in global conflicts. Those are the job of the regular army. The National Guard spend their time preparing to take over the domestic duties of the army, when the army has its resouces dedicated elsewhere. The members of the National Guard also have fulltime jobs at home, and while they understand that they may be called upon at any time to tend to a crisis-- but I doubt they'd thought they'd be spending 6 months half way around the world. For the Army, army life is their life-- it is their job. So I have to ask, if the NAtional Guard and Reserves are deployed, what is the Army doing?

It is a trickle-down theory. We have spread our military resources so thin through out the world (Somalia, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Korea-- just to name a few), that we have forced our National Guard and Reserves into duty beyond their normal constraints. Just look at what we call them. Reserves are just that, reserves. Yes, they are those who move in to relieve those fighting on the front lines, but they are temporary replacements. They differ from the army in that the army is NOT their entire lives. And so those, whose job it is to fight for a freedom are available to return to that mission, they should, and let the Reserves get back to their daily lives. And let's not forget the National Guard. Yes-- NATIONAL. Not Inetnational. As defined, the job of the National Guard is to guard this nation-- and guarding is defensive, non-agressive action. Not looking for a fight, but when the fight is brought to them, they respond.

OK, the trickle-down. When the military is deployed overseas, the Reserves and National Guard step up to deal with domestic issues. But when the Reserves and National Guard are being deployed overseas, who is to take over that domestic responsibility? The Army? No. The army should be going back to finish the job they started. So because our Commander in Chief is foolishly wasting our military resources, we are vulnerable at home. We do not have the workforce numbers to send to the bayou region to help deal with the devistation.

Finally, classify this in the WTF file. NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, CNN-- every major news source-- has people on the ground reporting on the disaster. Yet, FEMA, the Red Cross, and other groups of support and diaster relief are unable to get where they are needed. It makes no sense to me. We know that there are people who have been able to get on the ground-- so don't tell us you can't get there. Even Harry Connick, Jr. found his way to Bourbon Street. And those who normally respond to these situations can't get there? I think not. Get to Boubon Street, and work your way out from there. It's a starting point. And if someone opens fire on your Chinook helicopter with the guns they looted from the local Wal-Mart, you are authorized to return fire. You must take the same policy as the police, fire when you are fired upon. Anyone who opens fire on someone who is attempting to help, deserves their fate.

My deepest sympathies go out to those on the Gulf Coast who have been affected by this disaster. But the buck has fallen to those of us who were not directly affected by the storm. But the stupidity of the aftermath-- the excuses, the copouts, the ineptitude-- are all unacceptable. We need to do whatever we can to help out. Prayers simply are not enough. Send your best wishes, but also physical support. Results, not excuses people. This is not the time for stupidity. Let's keep our minds on the ball, lives are at stake.