United Nations Charges U.S. Government With Abusing Katrina Survivors

Should it take a world political body to tell Americans to stop being greedy and take care of their own?

(SALEM, Ore.) - It is a sad day in America when a world political body has to tell our government to stop screwing its poor people. Experts on housing and minority rights in the United Nations today called on the United States Government to halt the demolition of public housing and protect the human rights of African-Americans affected by Hurricane Katrina, which battered New Orleans in 2005.

Hurricane survivors like this
man say resources have been slim
and life is increasingly difficult

In the waning years of the ultra right Bush Administration it is becoming increasingly clear that conservative and business related politics can be the most anti-American ideology on the floor. It is an unabating philosophy intended to divide the classes and punish the poverty stricken with more challenges than they can meet.

The notion that we as taxpayers are not responsible for helping the poor is a sentiment that feels like a blow to the gut of a nation itself, and walks with dirty shoes over the legacy of a country that survived a horrible economic depression in the 1930's when its people pulled together, and then used that momentum to win what should have been the war to end all wars.

The thing that has led us into other wars, spare maybe the Korean War, is prejudice. We are not too worried historically about the Palestinians, but we have been blindly supportive of Israel since its inception. When Ho Chi Minh offered to turn Vietnam over to the U.S. as a territory in the immediate years after WWII, President Harry Truman refused to return the communiques, instead opting to fund the French re-occupation of that country.

That decision by old Harry led to the eventual deaths of over 58,000 Americans. The war in Vietnam could have been completely avoided with a small amount of diplomacy and international respect and dialog.

If we listened, learned, and balanced the varying elements and interests, we would be far better off. But instead, the country elects a warmonger for not one but two terms, and he allows the people who suffered in Hurricane Katrina to suffer some more, needlessly. I wonder if these are the signs of a religious president, a personal claim of Bush's that lacks much evidence and merit.

I wonder if most people realize that the idea of the GOP being the party aligned with the Christian faith is a fairly new notion, one that has only existed since around the fall of the Nixon Administration. That is when shysters moved into the churches in the nation's most conservative communities and began preaching a different tune: one that has resulted in isolationism and prejudice.

So the enemy of our nation's leaders these days in addition to the ones we create overseas, are the poor. They are a nagging burr in the saddle of those who want it all, and have no compassion for those who have nothing at all. In the end it seems like any sentiment against the poor and underprivileged is a slap in the face of who we are. It is the same as a self inflicted wound if you love your country, and not just your idea of what your country should be.

United Nations housing expert Miloon Kothari and Gay McDougall, the Independent Expert on minority issues, made this joint statement: "We are deeply concerned about information we continue to receive about the housing situation of people in New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region."

They say the demolition of the St. Bernard public housing development that started the week of February 18th and the destruction of three other complexes planned for the near future, are being carried out without meaningful consultation with the communities involved.

Citing reports that there are more than 12,000 homeless people in the greater New Orleans metropolitan area, they said that the demolition of public housing, in combination with the spiraling costs of private housing and rental units, are helping to drive people, primarily African-Americans, into destitution.

I guess we should be glad that somebody on a large political scale cares about poor Americans, even if it isn't our own countrymen, and we should remember this story as a sign of what may have happened under a continuing Republican Presidency.

It is also important to remember that the direction of the party in recent years is not necessarily a true reflection of GOP politics, as there are countless good republicans living among us who are just as confused as anybody over what has happened.

For now their ship is lost in the fog and the engines have nearly shut down. Of course that will not have anything to do with the massive load this ship carries, the wreckage will still be visible for years to come.

Oh and by the way, the two experts said they sent a letter stating their concerns to the US Government in December 2007, so it isn't like people weren't aware of the concerns.

"We understand that the new housing will not be available for a significant period of time nor will there be one for one replacement for housing units destroyed," they said.

"These demolitions, therefore, could effectively deny thousands of African-American residents their right to return to housing from which they were displaced by the hurricane."

They say that whether or not the demolitions were intentionally discriminatory, "the lack of consultation with those affected and the disproportionate impact on poorer and predominantly African-American residents and former residents would result in the denial of internationally recognized human rights," they maintained.

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with almost twenty years experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist and reporter. Today, in addition to his role as a war correspondent in Afghanistan where he spent the winter of 2006/07, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated only with Google News. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com

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denita March 9, 2008 1:01 am (Pacific time)

a big part of the problem are the immigrants taking jobs from the residents there,that is a way for a lot of the locals to get on their feet,WORK,but as usual the white owned construction companys would rather hire a mexican than an american,it a crying shame.there is a great need for immigration reform in this country.

$Two Dollars March 6, 2008 8:34 am (Pacific time)

I think things will start improving. The state finally elected a governor that knows something about what responsible leaders must do.

James March 4, 2008 6:13 pm (Pacific time)

People should not build in area's where this can happen.

Marcy March 3, 2008 10:03 am (Pacific time)

My older brother worked as an interpreter for 3 years with the United Nations in New York. His stories of corruption are really something to hear. As far as their lack of enjoying any success, or even respect, in their overseas missions (remember all the rapes in Nigeria and elsewhere by their top leaders in those areas?) is painfully apparent. They should not be judging how we take care of our problems. It seems we have been spending a lot of money in New Orleans, and yes many need our help, but a lot of fraud has been going on that I can see why people are starting to get impatient. I do agree with the other comment that the UN is not a reliable source. The UN has an agenda and it has nothing to do with recognizing our sovereignty.

Navymom March 3, 2008 7:26 am (Pacific time)

God helps those who help themselves. Why are the illegals working like crazy and not the people who lived there? First you have to get rid of the damage before you can bring in the new. No, we really were not prepared for such a disaster in the U.S. No the Mayor, Governor, or any other political person in N.O. did their job to the highest degree. Lesson learned, make sure you can at least take care of you and your family, don't wait for the "government" to come and help you right away.

Henry Ruark March 3, 2008 7:14 am (Pacific time)

Sawyer et al: Sorry to disagree re UN as source, but currently that organization beats hell out of our own governmental ones. In journalism, it is well established that most of the UN groups are far more reliable, better organized, less liable to be corrupted by "campaign contribution" impact and generally more effective than similar politically manned U.S. agencies. There is also the heavy and sometimes deciding impact of the special insights and often special information thus well available, from broad and world wide sources --sometimes with unique impacts due to that very fact-- otherwise missed by any group at work on very diverse problems and issues. IF UN is weakened in any specific situation, as history clearly shows, it is most often by special-interest hit from U.S. groups, opposing what the UN seeks to do for the worldwide commonweal, when it is adverse for corporate or other private interests here. We NEED UN desperately to offset precisely this further extension of the corporate and private-interest influences from which we now suffer so badly over the past thirty years --as millions in the US are now discovering to their continuing horror, and growing intensity to recapture our own once-democracy. Hope those facts help, friend Sawyer. There is nothing even slightly "anti-American" in them, they just ARE --which is why facts are so powerful, more-so than any words-descriptive...

Sawyer Johnson March 2, 2008 6:16 pm (Pacific time)

The United Nations is simply not a reliable source. We have much work left to do because of the Katrina disaster, but these disasters happen all over America. The people in Vernonia are getting my attention for now.

Godsofchaos March 1, 2008 10:31 am (Pacific time)

Like the U.N. is a reliable source. They are still debating what terrorism is.

Pam March 1, 2008 9:37 am (Pacific time)

Thank you, Tim, for this story. It's a real shame that we can't house 12,000 victims, but we can get the stadium back on line in time for football season. No wonder my daughter wants to move to Canada. Half her life has been under Bush regime, and she is disgusted with America as a result. I hope the next administration can repair some of the massive damage he's done.

Henry Ruark March 1, 2008 7:22 am (Pacific time)

Vic Et al: Your kudos for Tim nicely placed, and well deserved. After all, how can we share and learn without basic story such as this ? That's what's missing now in so much of MainStreamMedia,due to corporate ownership. No way censorship needed when careers hang on satisfying owners !! That fact I know from my own experience, and currently that of others in practice now too. SO let's work at it here, mutually, for our own safety and personal satisfactions, as well as strengthening our own community responsibly and with full citizen accountabilities. That's clearly what our Founders intended in that now historic First Amendment, with that lead-spot not happening by accident, but by their very careful and insightful choice.

Vic February 29, 2008 5:40 pm (Pacific time)

Ditto Henry and Anon .... and kudos to Tim for a great story !!

Henry Ruark February 29, 2008 9:30 am (Pacific time)

"Anon" et al" Your Comment states the realistic situation precisely, which is why impeachment-now is demanded first step without which we remain in exactly the same danger in any possible future. See current Op Ed for full detail, surely extending the solid documentation given by Tim's report here.

Anonymous February 29, 2008 9:19 am (Pacific time)

We should be so damned ashamed of ourselves, and while Bush and his boys are at the helm, we are all, sadly, tied to it. Only when we maintain American ideals can we keep up our end of the deal as humans, and Bush derailed us completely.

Henry Ruark February 29, 2008 7:57 am (Pacific time)

To all: Time has clearly come to forget the old party-loyalty drive and look to the reality of the 21at Century. Neither party now deserves the UNthinking loyalty of the past; for our own survival, we must see with own eyes and then think with own brain. Tim truly "tells it like it is" --as we know to be his invariable wont-- and, if any needed documentation desired, ID to editor will bring flood of file and PDFs from me. Story on N'Awlins is even worse re education, with most schools being set up now for "charter experiment" --i.e, to operate under private-profit control. ONLY real clean-up/and-out action still possible to all of us create absolutely demanded "new start", on fully Constitutional grounds, is impeachment NOW of whole cabal creating this debacle, now drawing international and most damaging attention. For the record, Tim and I do NOT cooperate in any way on statement of opinion; we go our independent (and sometimes even confrontational !!) own way, as it should be in an honest, open, democratic dialog channel.

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United Nations Charges U.S. Government With Abusing Katrina Survivors

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