It's a sad day in the U.S.... 
http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsA...42_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-WEATHER-KATRINA-WRAP-DC.XML
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - U.S. troops made their way to New Orleans on Friday with shoot-to-kill orders to scare off looting gangs so rescuers can help thousands of people stranded by Hurricane Katrina, find the dead and clean up the carnage.
Faced with a growing threat of anarchy after a natural disaster that may have killed thousands of people, the U.S. military sent in National Guard reinforcements.
Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said 14,000 Guard troops were on the ground and he expected 30,000 there in the coming days.
The federal government's response to the disaster has been criticized as slow and Brown blamed poor communications.
Brown told the CBS "Early Show" the agency failed to anticipate "the total lack of communication, the inability to hear and have good intelligence on the ground about what was occurring there."
Armed looters have had the run of this famed city of jazz musicians and French Quarter bars since Katrina pounded the U.S. Gulf Coast on Monday, but they were warned not to push their luck.
"These troops are battle-tested. They have M-16s and are locked and loaded," Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said on Thursday night of one group of 300 National Guard troops being deployed here after recent duty in Iraq. "These troops know how to shoot and kill and I expect they will."
Most residents are desperate for an end to the violence and a crackdown on looters was ordered when it became clear the looting and gunfire were hurting relief efforts.
At least one explosion was heard in the southwest of New Orleans in the morning, apparently involving several railroad cars, CNN reported.
Bodies rotted away on busy streets, gunmen opened fire on troops and rescue workers, and seriously ill people braved the floodwaters in wheelchairs to search for help.
http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsA...42_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-WEATHER-KATRINA-WRAP-DC.XML
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - U.S. troops made their way to New Orleans on Friday with shoot-to-kill orders to scare off looting gangs so rescuers can help thousands of people stranded by Hurricane Katrina, find the dead and clean up the carnage.
Faced with a growing threat of anarchy after a natural disaster that may have killed thousands of people, the U.S. military sent in National Guard reinforcements.
Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said 14,000 Guard troops were on the ground and he expected 30,000 there in the coming days.
The federal government's response to the disaster has been criticized as slow and Brown blamed poor communications.
Brown told the CBS "Early Show" the agency failed to anticipate "the total lack of communication, the inability to hear and have good intelligence on the ground about what was occurring there."
Armed looters have had the run of this famed city of jazz musicians and French Quarter bars since Katrina pounded the U.S. Gulf Coast on Monday, but they were warned not to push their luck.
"These troops are battle-tested. They have M-16s and are locked and loaded," Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said on Thursday night of one group of 300 National Guard troops being deployed here after recent duty in Iraq. "These troops know how to shoot and kill and I expect they will."
Most residents are desperate for an end to the violence and a crackdown on looters was ordered when it became clear the looting and gunfire were hurting relief efforts.
At least one explosion was heard in the southwest of New Orleans in the morning, apparently involving several railroad cars, CNN reported.
Bodies rotted away on busy streets, gunmen opened fire on troops and rescue workers, and seriously ill people braved the floodwaters in wheelchairs to search for help.
