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Exactly! - You get it.<br><br>
LA is a predominantly democratic state. Can you imagine what
would happen if the Feds (a Republican administration) used their
resources and authority to take control of the martial law activities,
law enforcement, etc. in LA. No, those decisions rest with elected
state officials. The governor controls the National Guard. US
military are not permitted to act as police officers on US soil. It
would take an act of Congress (and probably a constitutional amendment)
to allow that. As many security experts reported today, it does
appear that there was little or no command and control at the state or
local level.<br><br>
The fact is that the Feds appear to have done what they could prior to
the storm to position resources, etc. - in accord with FEMA and Homeland
Security protocols. As to why the LA National Guard was not
mobilized prior to the storm is not clear (at least from the sources I am
researching). As to why there was such a delay in requesting
assistance by state officials is also unclear - but no doubt that will
receive a lot of attention in the coming days. I am sure that
pundits on both sides of the partisan lines will be frothing at the mouth
to point their fingers and shake their fists. Typical
non-accountability will prevail.<br><br>
At 11:19 AM 9/4/2005, Andreas Schou wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">
<dl>
<dd>But they are not allowed to engage until authorized by state
officials, which did not happen until 2 days after the storm hit.
<br><br>
</dl> <br>
Third of all, what you are telling me is that the poor federal
government, like some sort of gigantic, bureaucracy-crazed DMV clerk,
realized that it couldn't assist in one of its three most likely
catastrophic scenarios because /the proper paperwork wasn't signed/? This
strains credibility and punches right through logic and out the other
side. What the hell were they afraid of -- a lawsuit by the state of
Louisiana? <br>
<br>
-- ACS<br><br>
<br>
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