Hurricane Katrina: The Obvious Questions | United States |Axisoflogic.com

On Wednesday night, we heard the Mayor of New Orleans say that there "may be thousands dead" in her city as a result of being struck by Hurricane Katrina. Boloxi, Mississippi has been completely flattened. Here are a few questions that people are asking:

Why is the U.S. National Guard killing people in Iraq, rather than saving them in Louisiana and Mississippi?

(The Mississippi National Guard is reported to have over 4,000 troops in Iraq and the Louisiana National Guard, 3,000 troops in Baghdad.)
Why did Associated Press report on August 29 that despite the large numbers of National Guard from Mississippi and Louisiana in Iraq, officials say more than enough personnel were available for disaster duty Monday as Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore"?

�Missing the personnel is the big thing in this particular event.
We need our people.�

- Lt. Andy Thaggard, Speaking
for the Mississippi National Guard

Why are there people trapped and dying tonight in buildings in New Orleans and other coastal cities simply because the government does not have the equipment or manpower to get them out?
Why are nearly all the thousands of people trapped in the Superdome people of color?
Why is the corporate media blaming people for not evacuating New Orleans when those same people have never had the financial means to leave? The median white per capita income in orleans parish, 2000 census: $31,971 and the black per capita income: $11,332
Why, while watching the the evening news on August 31, do we see almost nobody in uniform helping in New Orleans and Boloxi?
Why are 21,000 National Guard still "on the way" 4 days after Hurricane Katrina hit land when the government saw it coming? Why will they not be deployed until Friday - 5 days after Katrina struck New Orleans?
Why has President Bush not been giving regular updates to the nation on progress being made in the aftermath of "the worst national disaster in the history of the United States"?
Since the time that Scientific American predicted, "New Orleans is a disaster waiting to happen" in 2001, why hasn't the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers do something about the levies on Lake Pontchartrain?
Why has the corporate media not highlighted the absence of the National Guard and FEMA throughout the stricken area?
Why has the corporate media failed to criticize the government for it's abysmal lack of preparation for a disaster so predictable?
Why are police and National Guard carrying automatic weapons in New Orleans and focused on "looting" department stores when people are without food and water and many are trapped and dying in their attics, waiting for rescue?
Is it looting? Is it a crime? - To take a loaf of bread and jug of fresh water from a grocery store when your family has nothing to eat and nothing to drink?
Why did the price of gasoline shoot up to $3.35 in Natick, Massachusetts and over $3 in many other parts of the country overnight following the storm in Mississippi and Alabama? Who are the looters?

"New Orleans -- Mayor Ray Nagin ordered 1,500 police officers to leave their search-and-rescue mission Wednesday night and return to the streets to stop looting that has turned increasingly hostile as the city plunges deeper into chaos."

- Kevin McGill
Associated Press

Why didn't the state and federal governments evacuate the people, providing transportation and shelter before Katrina struck, instead of telling them to leave - knowing so many did not have the means to leave?
Why is so much money being spent destroying the infrastructure of Iraq and Afghanistan instead of protecting the bridges, roads, power plants and sewage systems of Louisiana and Mississippi?
When will we as a people cry out, "Enough" and demand that the government bring the troops home and take care of the people they are charged to serve?