Where is the National Guard?

[Figtoria]

I suppose they're in Iraq.

Who is responsible for emergency situations in the United States?

Cuz that guy should get his ass fired.

[Allison]

10,000 National Guardsmen have been ordered into the area, (also 5 Navy ships, which I'm sure aren't there yet, and lots of aid being promised) but I don't know where they are. We've been watching cable news all day and haven't seen any -- just lots of people, especially around the convention center, who haven't had food for 2 days. Old ladies in wheelchairs, small babies ... no food, no water ... it's crazy. I don't understand how it can take so long to get some food and water together and air-drop it into the streets around the convention center. I understand it's a difficult operation, I understand there are some safety concerns, with the random violence that's been occurring, but it's been days. And I have the same question as you, Fig .. where is the National Guard?

[Roscoes_C&W]

They are out of jobs due to Bill Clinton.

BOOYA!

[Riddick]

CNN reported this:

The Pentagon said that by next week 24,000 troops would be on the ground to assist in recovery efforts, including 8,600 National Guard members by Friday who could be put to work in law enforcement.

Clearly not fast enough but I guess this was more devastating then anyone really assumed...

[Iggy V2]

By next week, they wont hafta worry about the old, infirm, and babies.

CLEARLY not fast enough

[malkovich]

im trying to reserve judgement but its getting hard ...

there were many experts predicting this type of scenario on sunday morning , they were hoping for the best but saying that it was a definite possibility , of course i was thinking "no way" ... but im not an elected official ...

i cant turn the news off , i just cant believe that this is really happening ...

[malkovich]

oh and im getting tired of hearing about the looters , unless there is something i am missing i think its time to ignore the looters and start getting food and water to mothers holding their dying babies and old men and women dying and being pushed out of the way ...

im a lot more worried about the people acting violently and hindering rescue operations (and apparently raping and beating people) than i am worried about looting ...

[malkovich]

*** not that the looters arent despicable bastards , just that i think 100% of the effort right now should be saving lives ...

[MickeyFinn]

You can't expect everything to be taken care of in a couple days when 2 to 4% of the entire country are in need of help or support

[Swifty_Johnson]

I suppose they're in Iraq.

Most of them have just returned from Iraq.

The NG were around the Superdome, and that's it. The ones there were overwhelmed. The city started to tell people to go to the convention center, and the NG didn't learn of this until they saw it on the news. There is a lack of communication right now, which is understandable, but they need to fix that.

One cannot simply drop 10,000 troops into an area. You also need to move in all the supplies for those 10,000 troops, otherwise they will also become part of the problem. That is no easy task, esp with the extensive damage to the roads in the area.

Swifty