Guardian: Mercenaries guard homes of the rich in New Orleans

[klook]

Jamie Wilson in New Orleans
Monday September 12, 2005
The Guardian

"Hundreds of mercenaries have descended on New Orleans to guard the property of the city's millionaires from looters.

"The heavily armed men, employed by private military companies including Blackwater and ISI, are part of the militarisation of a city which had a reputation for being one of the most relaxed and easy-going in America.

"After scenes of looting and lawlessness in the days immediately after Hurricane Katrina struck, New Orleans has turned into an armed camp, patrolled by thousands of local, state and federal law enforcement officers, as well as 70,000 national guard troops and active-duty soldiers now based in the region."
more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1567656,00.html

[bluedeminredstate]

1. You had to see this coming

It only illustrates the tragedy that left tens of thousands of AMERICAN CITIZENS - though less well off and less connected - stranded in an American city without food or water and treated worse than cattle. Would Laura Bush find this "disgusting?"

:grr:

[rodeodance]

2. "God watches out for the rich people, I guess."

.....Two Israeli mercenaries from ISI, another private military company, were guarding Audubon Place, a gated community. Wearing bulletproof vests, they were carrying M16 assault rifles.

Gill, 40, and Yovi, 42, who refused to give their surnames, said they were army veterans of the Israeli war in Lebanon, but had been living in Houston for 17 years. They had been hired by Jimmy Reiss, a descendant of an old New Orleans family who made his fortune selling electronic systems to shipbuilders. They had been flown by private jet to Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, and then helicoptered to Audubon Place, they said.

"I spoke to one of the other owners on the telephone earlier in the week," Yovi said. "I told him how the water had stopped just at the back gate. God watches out for the rich people, I guess."