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<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> Mark Crispin Miller
[mailto:mcm7@MAIL.nyu.edu] <BR><B>Sent:</B> September 5, 2005 5:36
PM<BR><B>To:</B> mark.miller@nyu.edu<BR><B>Subject:</B> "This place is going to
look like Little Somalia"<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000
size=+1><B>http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1077495.php</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=+1><B><BR></B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=+1><B>Troops begin combat
operations in New Orleans</B></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000
size=-4><BR></FONT><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=-4><B>By</B></FONT><FONT
face=Arial color=#0000ff size=-4><U><B> Joseph R. Chenelly</B></U></FONT><FONT
face=Arial color=#000000 size=-2><I><BR>Times staff writer<BR></I></FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=-4><BR>NEW ORLEANS - Combat operations
are underway on the streets "to take this city back" in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina.<BR><BR>"This place is going to look like Little Somalia,"
Brig. Gen. Gary Jones, commander of the Louisiana National Guard's Joint Task
Force told Army Times Friday as hundreds of armed troops under his charge
prepared to launch a massive citywide security mission from a staging area
outside the Louisiana Superdome. "We're going to go out and take this city back.
This will be a combat operation to get this city under control."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=-4><BR>Jones said the
military first needs to establish security throughout the city. Military and
police officials have said there are several large areas of the city are in a
full state of anarchy.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=-4><BR>Dozens of military
trucks and up-armored Humvees left the staging area just after 11 a.m. Friday,
while hundreds more troops arrived at the same staging area in the city via
Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters.<BR><BR>"We're here to do whatever they need
us to do," Sgt. 1st Class Ron Dixon, of the Oklahoma National Guard's 1345th
Transportation Company. "We packed to stay as long as it takes."<BR><BR>While
some fight the insurgency in the city, other carry on with rescue and evacuation
operations. Helicopters are still pulling hundreds of stranded people from
rooftops of flooded homes.<BR><BR>Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast
Guard and police helicopters filled the city sky Friday morning. Most had armed
soldiers manning the doors. According to Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeremy
Grishamn, a spokesman for the amphibious assault ship Bataan, the vessel kept
its helicopters at sea Thursday night after several military helicopters
reported being shot at from the ground.<BR><BR>Numerous soldiers also told Army
Times that they have been shot at by armed civilians in New Orleans. Spokesmen
for the Joint Task Force Headquarters at the Superdome were unaware of any
servicemen being wounded in the streets, although one soldier is recovering from
a gunshot wound sustained during a struggle with a civilian in the dome
Wednesday night.<BR><BR>"I never thought that at a National Guardsman I would be
shot at by other Americans," said Spc. Philip Baccus of the 527th Engineer
Battalion. "And I never thought I'd have to carry a rifle when on a hurricane
relief mission. This is a disgrace."<BR><BR>Spc. Cliff Ferguson of the 527th
Engineer Battalion pointed out that he knows there are plenty of decent people
in New Orleans, but he said it is hard to stay motivated considering the
circumstances.<BR><BR>"This is making a lot of us think about not reenlisting."
Ferguson said. "You have to think about whether it is worth risking your neck
for someone who will turn around and shoot at you. We didn't come here to fight
a war. We came here to help."<BR><BR><BR><BR></FONT><FONT face=Arial
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