DHS: "7 trailers of food and water at the Superdome on 8/29 and 8/30"

[mattclearing]

This is the first I've heard of this. Has anyone else heard about this before?

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/politics/08chertoff.html?ei=5090&en=373053edcb4fff05&ex=1283832000&adxnnl=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1126182417-fXi4vRtafGCy/xuouKwtfw

"Even so, he said relief crews delivered seven trailers filled with water and ready-to-eat meals to the Superdome before the storm hit on Aug. 29, along with another seven trailers on Aug. 30."


Edit to ask: Does anyone have any ties to the Dems in the article who can let them know that there is no public evidence of this? They need to know when they're being lied to.

[JuniperLea]

1. who are they trying to fool?

don't they think the people who were there are credible witnesses? that was the main beef! all those people sent there and there were no provisions! none at all! liars! liars! liars!!!

[mattclearing]

22. Apparently it was an off-the-record briefing for Congress.

It's interesting that they didn't bring this up in public. Likely they would have been called on it, as is happening now.

[Spazito]

2. If Chertoff said it, one would have to take that with a' trailer full'

of salt, imo.

[Roland99]

3. Uhh...WWL and WDSU NEVER mentioned that in their feeds

[mattclearing]

4. Granted, this would have been right at the beginning of the storm...

...so I imagine it could have happened before the area got sealed off, the Superdome secured, the looting, and the clampdown on aid.

But I want to know if this has ever been brought up before, because you'd think they'd have called attention to it earlier if it had.

Do we have anyone at the Astrodome or somewhere who could confirm this from one of the evacuees?

[Roland99]

6. The storm hit about 7-8am on the 29th. We're to believe trucks

delivered food/water with 100+mph winds in the area?


And, on the 30th, there were news choppers all over the place and quite a bit of coverage and I remember NOTHING of aid being delivered to the Dome.

[dogday]

9. Most of the people were saying they had

not anything to drink or eat in 3-4 days, doesn't sound like there was anything there. I mean everyone was upset.... They said they had no food or water on the tapes the news showed...

[mattclearing]

26. Yeah, this really strains credulity. n/t

[Roland99]

5. And there's this editorial from the Times-Picayune

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001054586

In a nationally televised interview Thursday night, he said his agency hadn’t known until that day that thousands of storm victims were stranded at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. He gave another nationally televised interview the next morning and said, "We’ve provided food to the people at the Convention Center so that they’ve gotten at least one, if not two meals, every single day."

Lies don’t get more bald-faced than that, Mr. President.

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Ayuh.

------------------------------------------------------
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Then save the nation!
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[Nikki Stone 1]

7. If they were there, why weren't they used? (That's the question)

But I too don't remember seeing the WWLTV site mentioning FEMA trailers of food at the superdome.

[mattclearing]

17. I thought the Superdome was surrounded by water then.

There were pictures of it with water on all visible sides at the time.

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. So why didn't anyone actually open them and eat the food? I call BS!

------------------------------------------------------
Ditch Bu$h and save the Gulf: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=106&topic_id=22507&mesg_id=22507

Then save the nation!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm

[mattclearing]

11. I'm with you.

I was thinking maybe this got by me in the last week, but since everyone seems to share my reaction to this, I declare bullshit as well.

[bushisanidiot]

12. 7 trailers made it to the superdome in the middle of a hurricane

on monday? the levees broke late monday night/early tues. morning and they're trying to say that they sent 7 MORE trailers on tuesday through the flooded city?

just one major problem with that.. the news media was EVERYWHERE so they would have gotten the alleged "trailors" on camera..

[mattclearing]

13. Yeah, it makes no sense. n/t

[Roland99]

16. Actually, levees started breaching at 11am Monday morning.

[annabanana]

14. He'd damn well better have some paper to back THAT up!!

I'll lay odds that there is not ONE SINGLE BIT of corroborating evidence for this. This is one of the ungliest lies yet.

[mattclearing]

15. It really is. They're lucky it was buried in the middle of an article

about an "off the record" talk. They wouldn't have said this on the record because the record clearly refutes it.

This was said to calm congressional nerves in an environment where it was not readily refutable.

[Zodiak]

21. and repeated in the article

without any mention of the facts. Just let their claim sit out there without challenging it.

THIS is the crap that muddies the waters....THIS is the crap that makes it so hard to fight the spin. If you are a reporter and some Bush admin guy tells you something "off the record" or "on the record" for that matter, FACT-CHECK it before you print it without challenge. Now this article can be used as evidence in Freeperland and it will come back to DU 12-25 times a day, wasting our time and resources.

Thanks a lot, jerks.

[mattclearing]

31. Well, that's why I posted it...it looked fishy.

I may have to write the journalist in question to see if this assertion has been substantiated.

[me b zola]

18. With how many pallets were on each truck????

Even *if* this were true, that doen't account for how much was on each truck. In the military, you don't list the amount of goods moved by how many trucks were off loaded, you count the number of pallets.
Those people were hungry and didn't have enough to drink. You bastards will have hell to pay.

And by the way, Jerkoff, how many trucks off-loaded at the Convention Center????????? Oh, that's right, you bastards claimed you didn't even know there were any survivors there! :grr:

[DoYouEverWonder]

19. One delivery of MRE's was reported here on DU before the storm

I remember it because we did the math and figured that there was enough MRE's to feed 10,000 people for two days. However, there was no reports that I know of water being delivered or if any of this was actually accessable to the people in the Superdowm

Without advanced search I can't find the links but they definitely made ONE delivery.

[mattclearing]

20. Do MRE's include water? n/t

[DoYouEverWonder]

23. Not usually

You need water to eat them but that doesn't mean that water was supplied.

From the report that I heard, there was no mention of water.

[mattclearing]

24. Hmmm.

I know they come with wet beans and such, and someone posted what a MRE consisted of the other day, per the Afghan relief effort.

[Toots]

37. Back in my day they were called LRRP rations

They were nothing more than dehydrated meals such as spaghetti and such. You had to add water to reconstitute the meal. They were considered a delicacy for normal grunts who ate Cs. These new MREs might be something entirely different but I don't think so.:shrug:

[booley]

25. Gee, who should I beleive?

Chertoff or 20,000 witnesses?

Not to mention, arent' cons also sayign that FEMA couldn't do anything becuase Blanco hadn't declared a state of emergency and wouldn't let them in?

Thier lie would be better if they could ta least stick to one particular story...

[mattclearing]

28. Yeah, they just keep tripping over their stories...

First it was "We didn't know people were in the Convention Center," and then it was, "They've had food."

Makes you wonder how they were dropping dead at all.

[sinkingfeeling]

27. The guy who said this was Russ Knocke, press secretary to Chertoff.

Same response as usual: Prove it!

[annabanana]

29. does he have email?

I would LOO-O-Ove to ask him for some particluars about that statement!

[mattclearing]

30. Here's the DHS Press Room...

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=47

[librechik]

32. yesterday out of nowhere I heard they had 36 hrs of food and water

don't remember that being mentioned previously

[mattclearing]

35. They should have told the starving/dehydrating people on TV that. n/t

[OctOct1]

33. I remember the news saying

people were told to bring their own food.
I also remember seeing people waiting in line dragging coolers

[mattclearing]

34. Interesting. Doesn't sound like it was being provided.

I suppose it could be a case of "provide for those without," but the lack of evidence is really fishy.

[CdnObserver]

36. I call BS on this one

As if they would have been trumpeting this ALL OVER the media, were it in fact true.

Highly suspicious. Of course, maybe those trucks were earmarked to supply the FEMA staff on the ground, not the people who actually needed it.

[newyawker99]

38. Hi CdnObserver!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: