Delta Force Blues

I read these FAQs explaining why the Red Cross has not been allowed into New Orleans to offer aid and comfort to the survivors and to be fair it makes sense. They are not trained in search and rescue and unless the area is secure, it doesn't make sense to send them in to offer it if they are going to get hurt in the process. We would rightly criticize the authorities if they allowed that to happen.

Which means that it's been almost a week and the city where tens of thousands of evacuees are still waiting on the streets is clearly not considered secure yet. I was struck by the similarity between this and the reports at the time we destroyed Falluja in order to "break the back of the insurgency." Relief agencies weren't allowed into that city either.

The difference of course is that Falluja was never fully secured and no humanitarian relief was allowed in for weeks and months. War supporters please think about that when you watch the coverage of The Big Easy. You might as well be looking at Iraq, where the men who should be home guarding our own cities, are storming theirs. Whether caused by forces of nature or by military force - destruction and human suffering look remarkably the same.

[cross posted at PennyWit]