A study in contradictions

A story, Datelined Aug 31, 2005 suggests that the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security Chief didn't have access to lifesaving food and water during the first hours following Katrina:

About 1,500 New Orleans police officers were ordered to halt search-and-rescue efforts and patrol streets to stop looters, the AP said. The refugees, mostly in the Superdome sports stadium, will be taken by 500 buses to the Astrodome in Houston 328 miles (508 kilometers) away, officials said. It may be weeks before people are allowed to return, they said. ``There is nothing in New Orleans that will sustain them,'' said Lieutenant Kevin Cowan, a spokesman for the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. ``There is no water, no electricity, no food, no sanitation. People cannot live in New Orleans.'' (emphases added).

Meanwhile, the following from here:

The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city. (emphasis mine)

Even the lefty blogs, like here and here are raising questions regarding the motivation behind Louisiana Homeland Security refusing access from the Red Cross to meet the immediate needs of those trapped in the Superdome. As a matter of fact, a representative from the Red Cross said on Larry King:

MARTY EVANS, RED CROSS PRESIDENT AND CEO: Well, Larry, when the storm came our goal was prior to landfall to support the evacuation. It was unsafe to be in the city. We were asked by the city not to be there and the Superdome was made a shelter of last resorts and, quite frankly in retrospect, it was a good idea because otherwise those people would have had no shelter at all.

But in the meantime, wasn't it the governor and mayor who were caterwalling that people were starving and dehydrating to death, and fuming over the Feds' allegedly slow response time? This begs the question: Was their plan to grease the skids of evacuation via "forced" deprivation of food and water to those in immediate need, and then to pull a bait-and-switch, making the feds out to be the "bad guys" and the incompetents? Note to Nagin and Babineux-Blanco: Before calling a pot black, make sure you're not a kettle.

*****UPDATE*****

Major Garrett of Fox News had this to say:

Garrett: The state's own agency devoted to the state's homeland security. They told them you cannot go there. Why? The Red Cross tells me that state agency in Louisiana said, look, we do not want to create a magnet for more people to come to the Superdome or convention center, we want to get them out. So at the same time local officials were screaming where is the food, where is the water? The Red Cross was standing by ready, the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security said you can't go.

The plot thickens sickens...