NEWS: Louisiana Declares War on New Orleans Predators

You're quite right, I'm not listening to you, because what you're suggesting is blatantly wrong. Indeed, time will prove one of us correct, and I have a feeling it won't be you. People have already tried linking to an article saying the army shot contractors, when infact, they shot people that were shooting at the contractors. As I said before, credit the people that serve to protect your country and keep it's citizens safe, with a modicum of self-restraint and professionalism.

It's good to know you can take my attempt at being civil and still be a dick. I'm not the only one who feels this way, and the sentiment has been mirrored in other places. The military isn't omniscient.

Dude, I'm still being perfectly civil to you, but if you're going to call everyone that dissagrees with what you're saying a dick, then you're going to find this board a pretty lonely place. That blog shows that the troops are doing their job and protecting people. If that means giving everyone the pat down, then so be it. They're not shooting people, are they? Again, I never said that the military is omniescient, and I don't claim that they are, but anyone with any sense should be able to realize that they are not going to just start shooting at people for no reason. Also, it's a blog, not a news article, so it's pretty much left to the writer's discretion what they say. Fuck, some cop probably looked at him the wrong way or asked him what he was doing standing around, and in his fragile little mind, that then turned into him having a piece pointed at him.
[Edit to add]
Also, it's not as if they were just hanging around on a street corner, but a Federal building, and City Hall. I bet if someone was to try walking up to any official building like that in a disaster area, they'd get a similar reaction from the guards.

[Edited on Sep 05, 2005 by Spike]

You've missed the point, again. I'm not even going to clarify this time.

What point am I supposed to have missed? That troops were using guns to defend a Federal Building in the middle of a disaster area?!
Let's just refresh your point:

Once more, and for the last time. The troops are professionally trained soldiers. That is an undeniable fact, so accept it.
You can't compare this to the situation in Iraq, because the troops in Iraq were facing cultural and language barriers, as well as the propoganda the Iraqi people had been fed that the Americans were there to rape and pillage. If someone was to come running at them wearing robes and a beard screaming at them in Arabic, they probably didn't know if they were saying "Help, I'm being chased!!!" or "American Dogs, kneel before the might of Allah!!"
This isn't a problem in NO though, seeing as the troops all speak fluent American English, understand the fashions of the country, and will have a natural reticence to open fire on their fellow countrymen, I think it's safe to say that they are going to be able to tell the difference between people trying to survive, and people causing anarchy. They are not going to fire on people simply trying to survive!
Since you posted your comment four days ago, have the troops actually shot anyone that was looting to survive??

[Edited on Sep 06, 2005 by Spike]

Spike, it's pretty hard to discuss this with you. I understand they're trained, but I understand that in past situations where the military must be deployed into a civilian population, mistakes have been made and had to be factored as part of the risk. Obviously, if the town is in as bad shape as NOLA is, that's certainly an acceptable risk.

We won't know about any accidental casualties for awhile. If they don't happen, that's great - I'd love to be wrong about this case, since the people in NOLA have certainly suffered enough. However, your faith in their training is something I can't understand. I didn't compare anything to Iraq, I used it as an example of when training has failed. I'm sure I could find other examples, both inside this country and outside, but that was the first that came to mind, possibly because of the similarly painful discussion on the boards here about it I watched others take part in.

When I said you weren't being civil, well, you're still not, and with each post you get worse. We're not making any progress, and you seem to be getting increasingly irate. Though I've little doubt you will reply to this, I'm done replying to you.

Dude, again, I am still being perfectly civil to you, and I'm not irate, by any stretch of the imagination, I just find it hard to accept how you seem to think it is almost inevitable that the troops in NO are going to shoot innocent people trying to survive. It's not a case of me having faith in their training (which I do respect) but simply a case of common sense, and someone being able to tell one thing from another. Given how fast other news has reached us, I think that an accidental shooting would be news extremely quickly. By using Iraq as an example of where training failed, you were making a comparison, but you have failed to respond to my suggestion as to why the training might havefailed in that scenario, but how it won't apply in NO. I'm not particularly bothered if you do reply, because I for one am certainly getting sick of discussing such a basic issue with someone that can't understant it, but as you didn't reply before, I'll ask you again: In the four days since you made your first post, how many innocent people trying to survive have troops shot?