Post by kathy on Sept 6, 2005 2:36:25 GMT
The appalled reaction of a US Army veteran of the war in Afghanistan said it all. "This is a shell-shocker," said Warren Ezell as he surveyed the evacuation of the last refugees from New Orleans.
"I never saw anything like this in Afghanistan. I can't believe this is America.
"It's a jagged pill to swallow. It's like walking into your house and it's upside down and turned round."
He was standing in his desert fatigues outside the city's giant convention centre as the evacuation of tens of thousands of refugees finally hit top gear. All around him hundreds of elderly and disabled people, white and black, were slumped in the blazing sun surrounded by mounds of stinking refuse.
In wheelchairs and shopping trolleys, on makeshift stretchers, they were awaiting their turn. By yesterday morning, the last of them had been driven away or flown out in the biggest emergency airlift in US history.
Smelling of corpses, excrement and rotting food, the convention centre, just a week ago a shining symbol of corporate achievement, was finally empty.
But the repercussions have barely begun. In a rare display of unanimity, soldiers, policemen and refugees agreed that the evacuation, hugely impressive as it was in its closing stages on Saturday, would not go down as one of America's finer hours.
In particular, all spoke of a lack of direction, and a failure by the authorities to co-ordinate their response. Federal, state and city relief workers, police and troops have been pouring in, but often in an ad hoc response.
One Texan marshal sporting a white Stetson and black bullet proof vest said he had driven in with his colleagues and stood guard on a key crossing. Asked who was in command, he shrugged. "There is no one in charge."
Particularly striking has been the apparent failure of anyone to take the initiative.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/09/05/wkat205.xml
"I never saw anything like this in Afghanistan. I can't believe this is America.
"It's a jagged pill to swallow. It's like walking into your house and it's upside down and turned round."
He was standing in his desert fatigues outside the city's giant convention centre as the evacuation of tens of thousands of refugees finally hit top gear. All around him hundreds of elderly and disabled people, white and black, were slumped in the blazing sun surrounded by mounds of stinking refuse.
In wheelchairs and shopping trolleys, on makeshift stretchers, they were awaiting their turn. By yesterday morning, the last of them had been driven away or flown out in the biggest emergency airlift in US history.
Smelling of corpses, excrement and rotting food, the convention centre, just a week ago a shining symbol of corporate achievement, was finally empty.
But the repercussions have barely begun. In a rare display of unanimity, soldiers, policemen and refugees agreed that the evacuation, hugely impressive as it was in its closing stages on Saturday, would not go down as one of America's finer hours.
In particular, all spoke of a lack of direction, and a failure by the authorities to co-ordinate their response. Federal, state and city relief workers, police and troops have been pouring in, but often in an ad hoc response.
One Texan marshal sporting a white Stetson and black bullet proof vest said he had driven in with his colleagues and stood guard on a key crossing. Asked who was in command, he shrugged. "There is no one in charge."
Particularly striking has been the apparent failure of anyone to take the initiative.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/09/05/wkat205.xml