Re: Someone Else's is Responsible


"Glenallan" <ascb38@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:X4OdnSaebMTH_7zeRVnyuA@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> There are many aspects of Katrina and
> New Orleans that have puzzled us.
>
> But one issue that has puzzled me is the disregard for
> the bodies of the victims floating around the city.
>
> British news crews have made big play of this, sensing perhaps,
> that it is a key indicator of the respect that a society holds
> for the dead that is a defining feature of civilisation.
>
> Allied to this were the facile excuses given by the commanders of
> passing soldiers, guards and authority people when asked quite
> simply why _they_could not simply uplift the bodies that they
> simply walked past. I was equally unimpressed by the apparent
> lameness and lack of sense of real involvement by these troops.
>
> Examples were given of bodies that had lain, easily accessible
> for six days. Shrugging of shoulders seemed to be the response,
> even to quite testing questioning that would embarrass most.
> The answer was invariably more horrific in its implication
> than I could have imagined.
>
> "We have not been tasked with this.", or words to that effect.
> It then seemed to me that the soldiers on the ground were
> in fact, incapable of independent action. In every case,
> it was someone else's responsibility.
>
> I then thought of all of the other disasters that we have seen
> where respect for the dead has been as valid as respect for
> the living. I thought of all manner of other scenarios that
> American troops have been involved in, and I wondered.
>

I haven't watched any news coverage, so I haven't seen this Glenallan. I've
heard a bit on the radio as I'm driving about the country.

I share a belief in showing respect for the dead though- but the whole thing
has been so strange that almost nothing would surprise me now.

I find it difficult to be openly critical, as somehow that seems to be
disrespectful to people who have lost so much, including in many cases their
lives. So I'm just reading here and the newspaper, listening to the radio
and trying to bite my tongue.

Neb


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Someone Elses is Responsible
    ... >>> the bodies of the victims floating around the city. ... >>> for the dead that is a defining feature of civilisation. ... No arguement made in the practice of abandoning the dead makes any sense. ... response is everyone knows what a threat to health dead bodies are. ...
    (soc.culture.scottish)
  • Re: Someone Elses is Responsible
    ... >> for the dead that is a defining feature of civilisation. ... Shrugging of shoulders seemed to be the response, ... So I'm just reading here and the newspaper, listening to the radio ... house search, some officials are saying the count may be far less than the ...
    (soc.culture.scottish)
  • Re: Hiding Bodies Wont Hide the Truth
    ... > Hiding Bodies Won't Hide the Truth ... > response to Hurricane Katrina continued to rage around the White House ... > critics are themselves Republicans. ... FEMA and the federal government were not involved in the ...
    (soc.culture.filipino)
  • Re: Handgun Murder Statistics
    ... measure of DGU's are dead bodies. ... National Survey on Private Ownership and Use ... supplying data. ...
    (talk.politics.guns)
  • Re: Handgun Murder Statistics
    ... measure of DGU's are dead bodies. ... own survey found 4.5 MILLION annual DGUs (we'll ignore there 23 ... I have already shown that your "close approximation" isn't close ...
    (talk.politics.guns)