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The Secret History of Hurricane Katrina
There was nothing natural about the disaster that befell New Orleans in Katrina's aftermath.
But there's an even harsher truth, one some New Orleans residents learned in the very first days but which is only beginning to become clear to the rest of us: What took place in this devastated American city was no less than a war, in which victims whose only crimes were poverty and blackness were treated as enemies of the state.
It started immediately after the storm and flood hit, when civilian aid was scarce—but private security forces already had boots on the ground. Some, like Blackwater (which has since redubbed itself Xe), were under federal contract, while a host of others answered to wealthy residents and businessmen who had departed well before Katrina and needed help protecting their property from the suffering masses left behind. According Jeremy Scahill's reporting in The Nation, Blackwater set up an HQ in downtown New Orleans. Armed as they would be in Iraq, with automatic rifles, guns strapped to legs, and pockets overflowing with ammo, Blackwater contractors drove around in SUVs and unmarked cars with no license plates.
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That's odd-- FWIW, I DID click and the article isn't very long. I wonder if this will be a new CD trend-- more extra clicks, links, and buttons to push!
Rumors of death squad behavior by Blackwater mercenaries and wingnut vigilantes in the aftermath of the destructive flooding were abundant.
As with so many Amerikan military or government-hired mercenary atrocities committed abroad, the relatively obscure reports by courageous investigative reporters are the only evidence of heinous wrongdoing.
And our elected misrepresetatives have zero interest in calling for rigorous and comprehensive investigation into these travesties.
Better to let it all wash away in the flood, and focus on making NOLA a nicely sanitized Historical City for affluent white folks.
· Yr Obd't Servant
There are few areas susceptible to disaster - few areas where people live - where someone might profit by getting rid of residents, both landowners and renters.
Of course Katrina was relatively distinct, since the population of the flooded boroughs was relatively disenfranchised to begin with. That does not mean that the same overarching principles will not apply in all manner of situations, from "natural" disasters to economic difficulties - which at least from here look to get worse.
The apparent policies of the feds and related elites seems very much a "last man standing" affair. They feel best served by continuing to burn carbon and oppress populations - God that sounds dry! - to position themselves favorably as things get worse.
That leaves the rest of us in a pretty sorry mess if we stay the course.
"Better to let it all wash away in the flood, and focus on making NOLA a nicely sanitized Historical City for affluent white folks."
Actually, it all sounds like an alternative "Soylent Green". Only the "affluent white folks" are being fed the soya meal of government protection and beneficience in this version. Either way, everyone loses, not because of government but because of the people who run that government and those of us who sheepishly elect them to sell us out!