What is the definition of a terrorist attack? If a man or an
agency knows what will happen when an inevitable convergence of events
occurs and not only fails to act but acts in a manner that will
maximize the disaster, is it really any different than flying a
passenger plane into a tower of civilians?
The Army Corps of
Engineers knew what they were doing when they used inadequate funds to
contract inadequate work to rebuild and reinforce the levees that stood
between the poor black folk of New Orleans and a watery grave.
Renowned for their genius around the world, the Corps ingeniously
erected a façade that created an illusion of strength. The Corps knew
it would topple when tested and the Corps knew it would be tested.
When
a lonely meteorologist warned that Katrina could spell catastrophe the
Corps did not sound the alarm. When there was still a chance at mass
evacuation, the Corps stood down. The Corps had a job to do but that
job was not to protect the poor of New Orleans; it was to guard their
reputation as they skimmed funds from the levees, bridges and dams of
America so they could build fortresses for international oil companies
in Iraq.
The Army Corps of Engineers was hoping that Katrina
would hit dead on at full force so that no one would notice or care
that the levees were defective. They were counting on the president to
attribute the massive destruction to an act of god and the hammer of
inevitable fate. They were counting on every expression of empathy to
be followed by a qualifier: There was nothing we could do.
They
were not counting on day after day of suffering people pleading for
help while the government’s representatives threw up their hands in
ignorance. They were not counting on floating corpses and an endless
parade of homeless people wading through toxic waters to the convention
center or the Superdome where no help was waiting.
Before
Katrina, not even the most venomous critic could have imagined an
American leader so heartless, so indifferent, so out of touch with the
common man that he failed to notice his people were dying.
We
watched the events unfold, the slowness of federal response, the
absence of the guard, the insensitivity of our president, the absolute
lack of urgency in the face of disaster, and we knew it was a crime
against human dignity that would endure the ages. The entire nation
and much of the world witnessed in stark, vivid detail what it was to
live in America poor and black.
We had a government that could
run the river backwards rather than allow an unfortunate woman, white
and brain dead, the dignity of a private and natural death but could
not raise a hand to deliver food, water and medical supplies to the
birthplace of jazz.
Katrina was a terrorist attack that ripped
at the cover of class warfare. Like the targets of our bombs in
foreign nations, the poor were mostly dark skinned and faceless. They
were not a part of the American dream; they were a part of the American
cesspool – or so they seemed to our privileged overlords.
The
Corps of Engineers was right that New Orleans would be tested; New
Orleans would be tested in Houston, Nashville, Austin, Chicago, Los
Angeles, New York and Salt Lake City, Utah. The city of jazz would be
tested from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine, from the Golden Gate
to the shining beacon on a hill. New Orleans would be tested in every
two-cent town with a television and a diner.
Every militant Islamist was pointing to CNN and saying: See how they treat their own – and they have oil too.
Yes,
New Orleans is rich in oil. It possesses an abundant supply just off
its marshy coast. It has so much oil that if it were a foreign nation
and its Diaspora were refugees as the media proclaimed, New Orleans
would be richer than the United Arab Emirates and it would have no need
of our assistance.
New Orleans is rich in culture and irony –
jazz and the blues. How ironic that its people were shipped to the
four corners of the nation as immigrant Hispanics at substandard wages
were hired for the clean up. The powers knew the citizens of New
Orleans would insist on rebuilding their schools, hospitals and homes
while the illegal immigrants would simply do as they were told. New
Orleans would become a Disneyland, a new Mecca for corporate greed, a
haven for casinos and high-rise hotels. There would be no room for the
poor black folk who were the heart of the city of jazz.
New
Orleans would never be the same but the powers were fools if they
thought it would go down without a fight. They had unleashed an
enduring heartache that would translate into words and music, a story
that would be told for a thousand years.
Once there was a city
whose citizens were a ragtag collection of slaves and semi-slaves, the
misfits and miscreants of a nation whose ambition was larger than its
conscience. Once there was a city where blacks, whites, and every
shade of gray learned to live together in the harmony of jazz. Once
there was a city where French and English were mixed in a steamy brew
of Cajun and Creole and the dialects of the Louisiana bayou. Once
there was a city that gave birth to the finest music and the most
diverse culture the world has ever known. Once there was a city where
the poor were not poor for they possessed that richness of spirit and
culture and music and tolerance that was the envy of all others.
Once there was a city of jazz. No more.
Mourn
for the people who lost their lives. Mourn for the people who lost
their souls. Mourn for the people who lost their homes. Mourn for the
people who will never return. Mourn for the people who will never stop
mourning. Mourn for the people who never knew New Orleans before the
storm.
Katrina was a terrorist attack, a conspiracy of indifference, the “shock and awe” campaign of a war on the poor.
Mourn for New Orleans, the most genuine and culturally rich city in the world, and take a solemn vow never to forget.
One year from Katrina do not forget that the Ninth Ward is still barren.
Two years from Katrina do not forget that New Orleans was once more than Mardi Gras and the French Quarters.
Three
years from Katrina do not forget that the poor people of New Orleans
are still poor but they no longer have the comfort of home.
Ten years from Katrina do not forget that New Orleans was buried in water by an act of man, not of god.
Twenty years from Katrina, remember that New Orleans was once a raw, thriving city where art and artists were born.
Thirty years from Katrina remember New Orleans and mourn.
Jazz.
Writings 
Nearly four years after the attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and an unknown third target, there was a second terrorist attack and the conspiracy to cover up the truth was no less determined. 
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First, it's St.Bernard Parish, not "St. Bernard's Parish." And where is this "Chantilly" the author refers to? I've lived my whole life in New Orleans and have never heard of it.
As for his assertion that this was all a nefarious plot against the poor, black people of New Orleans, why was the 17th Street canal one of the targets? It's next to a white middle and upper middle class area, a few miles from where any black people live. I guess the author/demagogue didn't know that. The London Ave canal break (at least one of them) was in a mixed neighborhood. St. Bernard Parish is mostly white. And, the most expensive neighborhood in Metairie (suburb of N.O. to the west) was flooded. It's an all-white neighborhood of million dollar homes.
While we're at it, it wasn't only poor black people affected, but also wealthy ones. Ever heard of Eastover, Jack Random?
This article is pure propaganda from an idiot with an agenda.