Bringing Up the Obvious Let's try and get something straight here... Why are we worried about terrorism again? New Orleans is under water. The city's residents have been given a general order of evacuation. The refugees are being shipped to other cities, like Baton Rouge or Houston, Texas. The pro football team, its stadium nearly destroyed, is heading off to San Antonio. It is still too early to believe any of the damage estimates, which are just incredible. Why are we worried about terrorism? Looting is reportedly beyond control now, and whatever law enforcement agencies are able to operate in this urban flood zone have been ordered to cease with the search-and-rescue operations in order to combat rampant crime. Two of the worst examples: Lawbreakers using a forklift to pry open one pharmacy, and armed bandits car-jacking a bus used to transport the elderly. The ambulance service air-lifting people from the Superdome has suspended operations, mainly due to fear - there are too many desperates carrying guns for the pilots to safely perform their duties, they say. One official said it will take thousands of military personnel to restore order. The city's Superintendent of Police says the line between civility and anarchy at this time is "very tenuous." The Pentagon says it will send troops, and they will be needed. So what's with this war on terror? Whatever causes it, the hurricanes that annually threaten the Southeast are increasing in number and in fury. Next year, the meteorologists say, we can expect over a dozen such storms to crash through the region. Even with our resources, America looks like it has essentially lost a major city and several smaller ones. In Long Beach, Mississippi, authorities say their economy has been set back 30 years. Of course, the overall economy of our nation is already feeling the ripple effects, with gasoline nimbly hopping over the three-dollars-a-gallon mark, and headed due North. The government is releasing oil from the strategic reserve, but any mitigating effect will be limited. Shortages may well occur, and as we saw in Phoenix (when the Kinder Morgan pipeline was shut down in 2003), we don't deal well with gasoline shortages. Things could get fairly ugly, very soon. Terrorism? Thousands of people are believed dead. Bodies float about like so much driftwood. President Bush, upon touring some of the more stricken areas by helicopter, described the scene as "totally wiped out" - it is hoped that he was referring to more than just oil rigs. In the immediate term, tens of billions of dollars will be needed to keep the Gulf Coast from becoming a disease-ridden swamp, if that can be done. There is no water or electricity in the sweltering heat. Soon, there will be no food. As the president suggested, all Americans should forward a little bit of cash toward the rescue and rebuilding of New Orleans and her neighboring cities. As the saying goes, give 'til it hurts. It's a sacrifice we should all be willing to make. We must do our part, for it is essential to our country - very unlike the way our leaders have aproached the war on terror. The Atlantic storm season has yet to reach its peak. Public opinion of the administration and the Congress has plunged to its lowest level in years. The economy may have just met its iceberg. All of these things together comprise a brutal combination of head and body punches. If this doesn't knock us out, it should certainly re-align our priorities in America. In that regard, some good may eventually come from Hurricane Katrina, the worst natural disaster this country has ever known. Paul Heller 9/01/05 << back to the archives
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