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Lt. General Honore blasts press coverage of Katrina aftermath
Lieutenant General Russel Honore lived up to his 'John Wayne dude' nickname, blasting complaints that red tape or poor security were snarling relief efforts as "B.S." The fiery general, in charge of the military component of the mission, lost his rag during a press conference after President George W. Bush's visit to rescue coordinators here."That's B.S. It's B.S.," Honore raged. "I can tell you that is B.S. We have got 300 helicopters and some of the finest EMS workers in the world down there. "There is no red tape ... there are isolated incidents that people take to paint a broad brush." Honore also lashed out at questions from journalists at the Baton Rouge emergency operations center concerning the security situation in New Orleans. "You need to get on the streets of New Orleans, you can't sit back here and say what you hear from someone else. "It is secure, we walk around without any issues. Why the hell are you trying to make that the issue, if you can help, get there and help," he said, saying that people were being scared away by reports of violence. When one reporter argued that there still reports of bureaucracy and unrest stalling relief efforts in some outlying parishes of New Orleans, Honore fumed: "I don't care if it is Hancock County, Mississippi -- we are not going to have that kind of issue." The comments that sparked Honore's verbal blast were apparently made by US Representative Bobby Jindal, who represents a New Orleans district. "The bureaucracy needs to do more than one thing at a time. It's appropriate to save people with helicopters, but it can't be done to the exclusion of everything else," Jindal was quoted by Time magazine as saying. Honore did not discount that Jindal may be basing his complaints on "isolated" incidents, and said he would follow up with him. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin dubbed Honore 'one John Wayne dude' in admiration for his efforts when he showed up in the city last week. "He came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussing and people started moving," Nagin said in a radio interview on Thursday.
Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-09-06 |
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