"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:wsKRe.301427$x96.41584@attbi_s72...
This just in from the AP:
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But across the flooded-out city, the rescuers themselves came under attack
from storm victims.
"Hospitals are trying to evacuate," said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Cheri
Ben-Iesan, spokesman at the city emergency operations center. "At every
one of them, there are reports that as the helicopters come in people are
shooting at them. There are people just taking potshots at police and at
helicopters, telling them, `You better come get my family.'"
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Unbelievable.

Right, which calls for due skepticism before believing it. In another thread
here, Rick just posted a link to an article by National Post colmnist Matt
Welch titled "The Deadly Bigotry of Low Expectations? Did the rumor mill
help kill Katrina victims?". The article challenges several key rumors about
the extent of the violence in N.O., including:

**********
And it's entirely possible that, like the chimeric Baton Rouge hordes,
exaggerations about New Orleans' criminality affected policy, mostly by
delaying rescue operations and the provision of aid. Relief efforts ground
to a halt last week after reports circulated of looters shooting at
helicopters, yet none of the hundreds of articles I read on the subject
contained a single first-hand confirmation from a pilot or eyewitness. The
suspension-triggering attack-on a military Chinook attempting to evacuate
refugees from the Superdome-was contested by Federal Aviation Administration
spokeswoman Laura Brown, who told ABC News, "We're controlling every single
aircraft in that airspace and none of them reported being fired on." What's
more, when asked about the attacks, Department of Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff replied: "I haven't actually received a confirmed
report of someone firing on a helicopter."
http://www.reason.com/links/links090605.shtml
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Or concerning the stories of children raped and murdered in the superdome
bathrooms:

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"We don't have any substantiated rapes," New Orleans Police superintendent
Edwin Compass said yesterday, according to the Guardian. "We will
investigate if the individuals come forward." The British paper further
pointed out that, "While many claim they happened, no witnesses, survivors
or survivors' relatives have come forward. Nor has the source for the story
of the murdered babies, or indeed their bodies, been found. And while the
floor of the convention centre toilets were indeed covered in excrement, the
Guardian found no corpses."
[same link]
**********

Obviously there was violence in N.O., and perhaps even some of the worst
horror stories will turn out to be true. But we should be in no rush to
believe those stories without proof.

--Gary