• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Gulf Coast Governors Leaving National Guard Idle

the makeout hobo

Rockin' In The Free World
DP Veteran
Joined
Nov 13, 2006
Messages
7,102
Reaction score
1,504
Location
Sacramento, CA
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Slightly Liberal
But nearly two months after the governor requested - and the Department of Defense approved the use of 6,000 Louisiana National Guard troops - only a fraction - 1,053 - have actually been deployed by Jindal to fight the spill.

"If you ask any Louisianan, if you said 'If you had those troops, do you think they could be put to good use? Is there anything they can do in your parish?' I think they'd all tell you 'Absolutely,'" Louisiana state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, said.

As of today, the federal government has authorized a total of 17,500 National Guard troops across four Gulf states, all to be paid for by BP.

But CBS News has learned that in addition to Louisiana's 1,053 troops of 6,000, Alabama has deployed 432 troops of 3,000 available. Even fewer have been deployed in Florida - 97 troops out of 2,500 - and Mississippi - 58 troops out of 6,000.

Those figures prompted President Obama to weigh in.

"I urge the governors in the affected states to activate these troops as soon as possible," Mr. Obama said.

It's believed officials in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi and are reluctant to use more troops because their presence could hurt tourism. In hardest-hit Louisiana, however, Jindal is pointing fingers.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/24/eveningnews/main6615414.shtml

This is just sad, and these governors need to explain themselves. Especially Jindal.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yet again, money is the root of the problem. Gotta look out for profits, even while a national catastrophe is happening.
 
Gulf Coast Governors Leaving National Guard Idle - CBS Evening News - CBS News

This is just sad, and these governors need to explain themselves. Especially Jindal.

No, what's sad is your fuax outrage.

What's the National Gaurd supposed to do, exactly? Shoot at the oil slick?

Please, explain to us what assets the Army National Guard has, that could remotely be deployed/employed to deal with the oil slick.

I can't wait! This is going to be one of those more funner threads.
 
No, what's sad is your fuax outrage.

What's the National Gaurd supposed to do, exactly? Shoot at the oil slick?

Please, explain to us what assets the Army National Guard has, that could remotely be deployed/employed to deal with the oil slick.

I can't wait! This is going to be one of those more funner threads.

The national guard is trained in disaster relief and could help any evacuations or disaster preparedness programs.
 
No, what's sad is your fuax outrage.

What's the National Gaurd supposed to do, exactly? Shoot at the oil slick?

Please, explain to us what assets the Army National Guard has, that could remotely be deployed/employed to deal with the oil slick.

I can't wait! This is going to be one of those more funner threads.

How about cleaning beaches? How about building stuff to prevent oil from coming in? After all dear Jindal has called for the Feds to basically call in the military and yet he has not activated his own.. typical pathetic double standard Jindal. Guess he thinks his days of prayer would be more effective than his own National Guard... a clear sign of a mad man.
 
The national guard is trained in disaster relief and could help any evacuations or disaster preparedness programs.

True, they are trained to handle evacuations and rescues. None of their training can be in anyway useful with the oil slick.
 
How about cleaning beaches? How about building stuff to prevent oil from coming in? After all dear Jindal has called for the Feds to basically call in the military and yet he has not activated his own.. typical pathetic double standard Jindal. Guess he thinks his days of prayer would be more effective than his own National Guard... a clear sign of a mad man.

There are two reasons why you're wrong on that score.

1) Soldiers aren't to be used for menial labor, it's a violation of Army regulations.

2) There are already hundreds of people getting paid to do the beach cleanup.



After all dear Jindal has called for the Feds to basically call in the military and yet he has not activated his own.. typical pathetic double standard Jindal.

There is nothing in the Louisiana National Gaurd system, that would be an asset to containing, stopping, or cleaning up the oil slick...typical leftist stupidity...and covering for Buckey.
 
The national guard is trained in disaster relief and could help any evacuations or disaster preparedness programs.

So the National Guard will evacuate wildlife and brief those not effected on what to do in case of oil contamination?

I know that you're just puppeting the new Dem Talking points of trying to shift the blame from the Fed's to the States, we understand that you believe those 4,000 or so extra bodies might make "a real difference". The rest of us will sit back and watch you and the other UI's of the Democrat Party run with this line for a few days till it dies and await the next MSM pushed talking point from the WH.
 
If there is anything more phony than Bobby Jindal's "outrage," I can't think of it. When confronted with the facts, what does he do? He lies. How very Republican of him.


"Actually we asked the White House to approve the initial 6,000," Jindal said. "What they came back and said is the Coast Guard and BP had to authorize individual tasks."

But Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander in charge of the government's response to the spill, said Jindal is just flat wrong.

"There is nothing standing in the governor's way from utilizing more National Guard troops," Allen said.

In fact, the Coast Guard says every request to use the National Guard has been approved, usually within a day. Now Jindal's office acknowledged to CBS News the governor has not specifically asked for more Guard troops to be deployed."
 
If there is anything more phony than Bobby Jindal's "outrage," I can't think of it. When confronted with the facts, what does he do? He lies. How very Republican of him.


"Actually we asked the White House to approve the initial 6,000," Jindal said. "What they came back and said is the Coast Guard and BP had to authorize individual tasks."

But Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander in charge of the government's response to the spill, said Jindal is just flat wrong.

"There is nothing standing in the governor's way from utilizing more National Guard troops," Allen said.

In fact, the Coast Guard says every request to use the National Guard has been approved, usually within a day. Now Jindal's office acknowledged to CBS News the governor has not specifically asked for more Guard troops to be deployed."

Then when he got caught in that lie, Jindal's spokesman said he's waiting for word from Louisiana's Adjutant General, the only problem with that is, the Adjutant General answers to Jindal.

Remember Jindal was the Republican's newest darling to fawn over, their rising star, 'til he bombed in a rebuttal speech last year.


Jindal, the gift that keeps on giving

Jindal.jpg
 
... Why is the oil spill the responsibility of the federal government but Katrina was the responsibility of states?
 
The oil has only barely reached the Florida coast, so deploying the guard, up until this week, would have been extremely premature. They don't have the equiment to put up booms in the water, so what exactly would they have been used to do? I can see some outrage at Louisian and Alabama, which have already been heavily impacted by oil, but Florida hadn't seen any oil until about Wednesday of this week, when it started hitting Pensacola (the farthest western city in the panhandle).
 
apdst said:
There is nothing in the Louisiana National Gaurd system, that would be an asset to containing, stopping, or cleaning up the oil slick...typical leftist stupidity...and covering for Buckey.

Oh????


GRAND ISLE, La., May 11, 2010 – The Louisiana National Guard is conducting around-the-clock operations to fill in a breach near here in support of operations related to the oil spill off the Louisiana coast.

Guardsmen of the 922nd Horizontal Engineer Company, 769th Engineer Battalion, have been working day and night to fill in a 700-foot gap on Elmer’s Island in an effort to keep oil-tainted water out of an area that is critical to the state’s shrimp and tourism industries.

Defense.gov News Article: Louisiana Guardsmen Continue Oil Spill Response

Sounds similar to building sand dunes. Wasn't Bobby crying about the feds not building him sand dunes?

GRAND TERRE ISLAND, La. -- During a visit here on Wednesday, Gov. Bobby Jindal got his first look at the vacuum barges being operated very successfully by the Louisiana National Guard.

"We would absolutely not be making the progress we've made today if it hadn't been for Guardsmen laying out tiger dams ... Hesco baskets, deploying these suction pumps on these barges, out there every day, helping us to fight this oil spill," Jindal told local reporters.
[...]
Along with this mission, about 1,100 Louisiana Guard members are deploying sandbags, Hesco baskets and other coastal barriers to keep the oil from spreading into sensitive inland marshes.


National Guard: Real heroes of oil spill response, Jindal says

The Guardsmen will provide security, medical capabilities, engineers, clean-up efforts and communication support.

Governor Jindal Activates Louisiana National Guard To Support Oil Spill Cleanup | Gov Monitor

Hmmm, deploying sandbags and cleaning up sounds pretty menial to me.
 
Jindal is a weasel of momentous proportions for trying to politicize this disaster, and make Obama his scapegoat. Jindal's got thousands of troops at his fingertips willing and able to undertake any measures necessary to help in this disaster, yet he refuses to put them to work. Instead, he whines that he's not getting enough help.

Bull****. He's playing politics, pure and simple.

Soldiers aren't to be used for menial labor, it's a violation of Army regulations.

Really?

The National Guard may be called up for active duty by state governors or territorial adjutant general to help respond to domestic emergencies and disasters, such as those caused by hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes.

In January and February 2007, National Guard troops from 8 states were activated to go help shovel snow, drop hay for starving cattle, deliver food and necessities to stranded people in their houses, and help control traffic and rescue stranded motorists in blizzards dropping feet of snow across the country. --Wiki

Apparently, you're wrong. And I'm shocked. SHOCKED.
 
... Why is the oil spill the responsibility of the federal government but Katrina was the responsibility of states?

Because the states were the first ones that were able to respond, since Hurricane Katrina actually hit Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

In the case of the slick, the states are the only ones doing anything, no thanks to the Feds.

IMO, it's the local, state and Federal government, who is responsible for taking care of disasters. Obviously, as seen in both Katrina--when the state and local systems broke down--and in the case of this spill--when the Federal system broke down--when one of the three doesn't fulfill it's end of the deal, the whole system breaks down. It sucks when, at some level, political leaders drop the ball, for political reasons.
 
Jindal is a weasel of momentous proportions for trying to politicize this disaster, and make Obama his scapegoat. Jindal's got thousands of troops at his fingertips willing and able to undertake any measures necessary to help in this disaster, yet he refuses to put them to work. Instead, he whines that he's not getting enough help.

Bull****. He's playing politics, pure and simple.



Really?



Apparently, you're wrong. And I'm shocked. SHOCKED.

Ahh! And, you know I'm wrong, because of your extensive military service and knowledge of Army Regulations? Yes?

Since you're so knowledgable of the the National Gaurd system, how's-about you tell us, in detail, what assets the Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida National Gaurd have, that is even remotely deployable/employable to this oil slick. I don't expect and answer, but thanks in advance.
 
Oh????




Sounds similar to building sand dunes. Wasn't Bobby crying about the feds not building him sand dunes?





Hmmm, deploying sandbags and cleaning up sounds pretty menial to me.

So, the NG isn't sitting idle?

You do understand the meaning of, "menial labor", right? Building sandbag levees and tar ball patrol are two very different things.

Jindal isn't crying about the Feds not building sand berms. He's crying, because the Feds won't give him permission to build sand berms.
 
Ahh! And, you know I'm wrong, because of your extensive military service and knowledge of Army Regulations? Yes?

Since you're so knowledgable of the the National Gaurd system, how's-about you tell us, in detail, what assets the Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida National Gaurd have, that is even remotely deployable/employable to this oil slick. I don't expect and answer, but thanks in advance.

Oh you must be right then, mr. military expert. The National Guard would never do things like stack sandbags during a flood. Nope. No menial labor!
 
Oh you must be right then, mr. military expert. The National Guard would never do things like stack sandbags during a flood. Nope. No menial labor!

Great! Another one of the, "I'm smarter than you are", Libbos that doesn't know what menial labor is.

Since you're smarter than the rest of us, explain to us which assets the Louisiana National Gaurd possesses, that can be deployed/employed against this spill, because obviously, there's zero danger of a flood, at this time. As I stated about Glinda, I don't expect and answer, but thanks in advance.
 
If anything, you are good for a good laugh...LOL!!!

First you say:

apdst said:
Please, explain to us what assets the Army National Guard has, that could remotely be deployed/employed to deal with the oil slick.

and

apdst said:
There is nothing in the Louisiana National Gaurd system, that would be an asset to containing, stopping, or cleaning up the oil slick...typical leftist stupidity...and covering for Buckey.

Going so far as to bold NOTHING.

And then you repeat it for a third time, after being shown where the NG has in fact been deployed containing, stopping or cleaning up the oil slick.

apdst said:
Since you're so knowledgable of the the National Gaurd system, how's-about you tell us, in detail, what assets the Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida National Gaurd have, that is even remotely deployable/employable to this oil slick.



Then...

apdst said:
So, the NG isn't sitting idle?

So what happened here? What awakened you to the acknowledgment that the NG is in fact containing, stopping or cleaning up the oil slick?

The majority of the NG sitting idle is the whole premise of this thread. Jindal has 6,000 Louisiana National Guard troops available to him. He has deployed only 1,053 but all he can do is cry how the federal government won't help him.
Political posturing.


apdst said:
You do understand the meaning of, "menial labor", right? Building sandbag levees and tar ball patrol are two very different things.

You do know what tiger dams and Hesco baskets are, right? To deploy them is nothing but hard back-breaking work or manual labor, sometimes called menial labor.


apdst said:
Jindal isn't crying about the Feds not building sand berms. He's crying, because the Feds won't give him permission to build sand berms.

RiverRat gave you a detailed explanation of why that idea wouldn't fly.
Political posturing.

apdst said:
Since you're smarter than the rest of us, explain to us which assets the Louisiana National Gaurd possesses, that can be deployed/employed against this spill,...

?????? :confused: ???????

You've been shown repeatedly and even acknowledged that a tiny portion of the NG hasn't been idle concerning this spill.
 
Ahh! And, you know I'm wrong, because of your extensive military service and knowledge of Army Regulations? Yes?

Since you're so knowledgable of the the National Gaurd system, how's-about you tell us, in detail, what assets the Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida National Gaurd have, that is even remotely deployable/employable to this oil slick.

You mean besides the roughly 16,000 troops that aren't being utilized?

Here's just one example:
intro-pic.jpg


Members of the Louisiana National Guard 1023rd Vertical Engineer Company, 528th Engineer Battalion and the Florida National Guard 2nd Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment, prepare to hook a sling attached to an empty fuel tank up to a CH-47 Chinook helicopter at Southwest Pass just off the coast of Venice, La., June 7, 2010. The 1023rd completed construction of a Tiger Dam water diversion system on Southwest Pass in an effort to keep oil from reaching inland. (U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Michael L. Owens, National Guard)

Oh look, here's another example:
si-oilcopter-thumb-200xauto-3450.jpg


The Louisiana National Guard has been dropping sandbags to fill small gaps in Pelican Island, where construction of a major sand berm has been approved.

I bet, if you tried really really hard, you could find some more.

I don't expect and answer, but thanks in advance.

You're welcome.
 
I guess Jindal isn't the only rightie going down in flames, eh?

:2funny:
 
You mean besides the roughly 16,000 troops that aren't being utilized?

Here's just one example:


Oh look, here's another example:


I bet, if you tried really really hard, you could find some more.



You're welcome.



So, Jindal IS putting National Guard assets to work. Yes?!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?

Thank you for making my point for me.
 
So, Jindal IS putting National Guard assets to work.

Let's see... First of all, you insisted:

There is nothing in the Louisiana National Gaurd system, that would be an asset to containing, stopping, or cleaning up the oil slick.

Guess what? You were wrong.

And wasn't it Jindal who said at various points:

"We will only be winning this war when we're actually deploying every resource."

"They (the federal government) can provide more resources."

"It's clear the resources needed to protect our coast are still not here."

Well, he was just as wrong as you are. In fact, the Coast Guard says every request to use the National Guard has been approved, usually within a day. Now Jindal's office acknowledged to CBS News the governor has not specifically asked for more Guard troops to be deployed.

The man's a lying sack.
 
The national guard is trained in disaster relief and could help any evacuations or disaster preparedness programs.

They have just over 1000 men on it with the approval to call up another 5000 if necessary. If you can show where any evacuation effort or program is in need of the Guard at this time, I invite you to do so. Otherwise, this is just faux outrage.
 
Back
Top Bottom