Tonight Anderson Cooper talked about how many Mississippians were asking where the federal government is. They have no water, no food, no shelter, and though it has been three days, no one has come to their neighborhoods to help them. Cooper talked to the FEMA director who was also upset by the slow response and promised to get help to them quickly. He said they had balanced the safety of their people with the need to respond, but also said that he was surprised that help hadn't come yet because the materials were there waiting to be distributed.

The Pentagon has committed another 10,000 national guard troops who are supposed to arrive tomorrow. My guess, though, is this will not be enough. After all, the Pentagon has proved over and over again to underestimate what is needed and to under-support their operations. Why should our government's reaction to this tragedy be any different than our actions in Iraq or Afghanistan? Is it a surprise that police have no radios to communicate with in New Orleans when my husband had no radios to communicate with his team in Afghanistan?

It is not just about the lack of help today, but also the lack of planning and funding the past several years. This from Sydney Blumenthal in Salon today:


Right at this moment there are tens of thousands of Americans with no food, no water, and no homes. Some are floating around on air mattresses in New Orleans, or beating their way to roof tops after another levee broke today. They are fearful for their lives. Criminals take advantage and good people are growing desperate because they are hungry. Others are wandering around their flattened Mississippi towns, sleeping outside, desperate for any food or water to sustain them. A couple of hours ago Bush said he "will" send food, he "will" send relief workers, he "will" help the area rebuild. When does this future begin? People need the help now. They need the relief now. This minute. Not tomorrow, not five days from now. The medical ship Bush promised will take a week to reach the Gulf Coast. The many people who need medical attention today cannot wait a week. The diabetics who are out of insulin, the hypertensives who are out of medicine, the hundreds of patients in New Orleans hospitals all need help today.

We were unprepared for such a massive disaster and our reponse has been inadequate. We underestimated the destructive power of Katrina. Our government's efforts have not been enough. Can't we do better? Aren't we the greatest country on earth, the wealthiest? New Orleans does not have enough relief workers or law enforcement officers to do this alone. They need help. They need proper support. I'm not surprised so many feel abandoned by the government, but I'm still sickened. After sending tools to my husband so he, a ranger, could repair his own trucks in Afghanistan, why would I be surprised? And yet I still am, because I expect more from my government.

Night falls on the ruined towns of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama, and many people are wandering around looking for basic sustenance while they are stunned by the destruction around them and wondering, still, how much they have lost. Cooper talked to a mother who does not know where her two sons are. Another woman who is searching for her mother. The dead are decaying and no one is there to collect the bodies, leaving the towns engulfed in the stench of death.

Then there is New Orleans, our beautiful, soulful city. Tens of thousands of Americans -- our neighbors, cousins, friends -- are suffering there. Their lives are in danger. Chris Lawrence on CNN says there's a dead body in front of the Convention Center that has been there for two days, the same convention center where thousands of people are wandering around looking for help. The police are overwhelmed. They do not have enough support. Only a handful of people have been evacuated from Charity Hospital, where there is no running water, no electricity, where patients' lives are in danger and their nurses and doctors are also getting sick from disease and dehydration. Where is our government?! Where is the support they need?!! Hospital workers are having to call journalists to get any attention at all. It's outrageous!!!

New Orleans was a poor city before this happened. The police were understaffed and underfunded, just as the fire department was. The fire department's starting salary is $16,000! The nicer neighborhoods in the city were patrolled by private security corporations, hired by the residents, because there weren't enough police to patrol the city. Is it a surprise that there is chaos in the city now? Of course not! But where is our federal government? They knew the city had very little resources before this. Did they expect it would miraculously change with a disaster? Suddenly police would sprout from the water, armed and ready to go? The police are strapped, hungry themselves, grieving themselves for their own losses, and completely unable to cope with the situation at hand. They need the help of our government and if they don't get it more will die.

The people of New Orleans need immediate relief. Not next week. Tonight.

An additional 10,000 national guard troops are going to be deployed to New Orleans. They are coming to rescue those who are left, and CNN implies they will attempt to establish "law and order" in a city where people are desperate and uninformed. There is no communication. Would the folks who are stealing electronic equipment put the TVs down if they knew their lives were in danger? If the authorities can get everyone out, including the stalwarts who refuse to leave, then there will be hope for the city. If not, things will continue to deteriorate and become even more dangerous. Disease is an acute threat. If you're still there, get out!!

The mayor thinks hundreds, perhaps thousands, have perished in the floodwaters. If all of the people who are still in New Orleans don't get evacuated soon, there will be even more deaths, as disease is inevitable given the sanitation situation. The first priority has to be to get every single person out of the city. Now.

Idyllopus talks about how people are on the verge of death in St. Bernard Perish, who have already taken what they can from local stores, and are now thirsty and threatened with disease while surrounded by their dead. It may take more than 10,000 troops to rescue tens of thousands of residents.

The president is on television listing in the millions the MREs and other supplies the federal government will provide. Good. But let's get these people the hell out of there, shall we?

Meanwhile in Iraq, over 700 adults and children were killed in a stampede when the bridge they were crossing collapsed. The fear of a suicide bomber was so great the crowds fled, leading to their own deaths. Where did the fear come from? From the instability and insecurity that we have not been able to control. Yet another tragedy.

And here's a story of another stop-lossed soldier who wants to get out of the military, and though his contract expired months ago, he's slated to go back to Iraq for a second deployment. He doesn't think the war in Iraq is worth dying for, and apparently he's not alone, which is why the military still can't meet its recruiting goals. Is this why it's taken three days for the government to be able to commit a sizeable number of troops for hurricane relief?

What a disaster. Iraq is in the clinch of fear, and death results; New Orleans is in the clinch of natural disaster, and death results. Desperate people act desperately. What else do we expect?